5,812
Views
63
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Reviews

Understanding suicide among older adults: a review of psychological and sociological theories of suicide

, , , &
Pages 113-122 | Received 30 Oct 2014, Accepted 21 Jan 2015, Published online: 19 Feb 2015
 

Abstract

Objectives: Older adults die by suicide at a higher rate than any other age group in nearly every country globally. Suicide among older adults has been an intractable clinical and epidemiological problem for decades, due in part to an incomplete understanding of the causes of suicide, as well as imprecision in the prediction and prevention of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in later life. Theory-driven investigations hold promise in addressing these gaps by systematically identifying testable, and thus falsifiable, mechanisms that may better explain this phenomenon and also point to specific interventions.

Method: In this article, we comprehensively review key extant psychological and sociological theories of suicide and discuss each theory's applicability to the understanding and prevention of suicide among older adults.

Results: Despite a modest number of theories of suicide, few have undergone extensive empirical investigation and scrutiny, and even fewer have been applied specifically to older adults.

Conclusion: To advance the science and contribute findings with a measurable clinical and public health impact, future research in this area, from conceptual to applied, must draw from and integrate theory.

Acknowledgements

The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Military Suicide Research Consortium (MSRC) or the Department of Defense.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

This work was in part supported by the Military Suicide Research Consortium (MSRC), an effort supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs under Award No. (W81XWH-10-2-0181).

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 688.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.