Attitudes toward suicide among mental health professionals

Abstract

The Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ) and the Recognition of Suicide Lethality (RSL) scale were administered to 141 mental health professionals representing seven groups: family practice physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses and aides, social workers, crisis line workers, and clergy. The results indicate significant differences among groups on 5 of the 15 SOQ factors, on a clinically derived empathic understanding scale, and on the RSL. Major findings of the study include: (a.) the complexity of attitudes towards suicide; (b) substantial differences between clergy and other mental health professionals; (c) differences between physicians and psychologists on attribution of manipulative motivation to suicide attempts; (d) a relationship between attitudes and personal familiarity with suicide; (t) an ordering of professional groups on the Empathic Understanding Scale reflecting psychological, medical, or religious training; (i) group differences on the recognition of suicide lethality signs; and (g) a relationship between knowledge of lethality and several attitudinal factors.