Citation

Leenaars AA, Balance WDG, Pellarin S, Aversano G, Magli A, Wenckstern S. Death Stud. 1988; 12(3): 195-206.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/07481188808252236

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe a series of studies that investigated the level of knowledge of suicide fables and facts among Canadians. A questionnaire devised from Shneidman's traditional list of ubiquitous clinical facts and myths was used. Three studies are reported: the prevalence of myths and facts in the largest sample reported in the literature to date; the prevalence in a number of different groups such as students versus nonstudents, university students versus high school students, male versus female, and individuals in different geographic areas; and a follow-up to evaluated memory for such information. The results are perceived to indicate "high" levels of knowledge in all sampled Canadians but subject to normal cognitive and dynamic processes of forgetting. Implications of the findings, especially regarding suicide prevention/awareness, are discussed.

Language: en