Studying suicide with psychological autopsy: social and cultural feasibilities of the methodology in China.
As China opens its door to the world, suicide research is making rapid progress using methods and instruments developed in the West. This is a feasibility study of the psychological autopsy methodology applied in China, with its emphasis on the social and cultural environments. With samples of 66 completed suicides and 66 community normal living controls, the authors found that it is feasible to interview at least two informants for each suicide case and each control, between 2 and 6 months after the suicide. With the Chinese-cultivated contacting method of recruiting cases, the refusal rate is nearly zero. The Western-developed methodology per se proved to be valid in the Chinese culture. Ethical considerations in the context of Chinese culture are as important as in the West. Psychological autopsy technique is shown to be an equally applicable method for the study of completed suicides in Chinese culture as it is in the West. Future epidemiological research on Chinese suicide should use the psychological autopsy method to collect data from larger samples in order to increase our understanding of the risk factors for Chinese suicides.
Zhang
Jie
J
Department of Sociology, State University of New York College at Buffalo, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, USA. zhangj@bscmail.buffalostate.edu
Wieczorek
William F
WF
Jiang
Chao
C
Zhou
Li
L
Jia
Shuhua
S
Sun
Yueji
Y
Jin
Shenghua
S
Conwell
Yeates
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002681:China; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010552:Personality Assessment; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012945:Social Values; D013405:Suicide / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology