G5 Doctoral dissertation (article)
Living in the shadow of a loved one’s suicide : family members’ suicide bereavement experiences and the family-level impact of suicide in China (2023)
Elämä läheisen itsemurhan varjossa : perheenjäsenten kokemukset itsemurhan aiheuttamasta surusta ja itsemurhan perhetason vaikutukset Kiinassa

Chen, Y. (2023). Living in the shadow of a loved one’s suicide : family members’ suicide bereavement experiences and the family-level impact of suicide in China [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Jyväskylä. JYU dissertations, 699. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-9750-2

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Chen, Yan

eISBN: 978-951-39-9750-2

Journal or series: JYU dissertations

eISSN: 2489-9003

Publication year: 2023

Number in series: 699

Number of pages in the book: 1 verkkoaineisto (67 sivua, 35 sivua useina numerointijaksoina, 3 numeroimatonta sivua)

Publisher: University of Jyväskylä

Publication country: Finland

Publication language: English

Persistent website address: https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-9750-2

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Abstract

Surviving the suicidal loss of a loved one can be challenging and even devastating. Suicide has a great impact on the remaining family members and the entire family as a system. In the western cultural context, studies on suicide bereavement in several domains (including the themes covered in the three studies of this dissertation research) have largely been quantitative. In China, in turn, systematic and methodologically robust qualitative research on the suicide-bereaved and suicide bereavement experiences are wholly lacking. To address this gap in the literature, this qualitative dissertation research focused on suicide bereavement experiences in the Chinese cultural context in several understudied domains. Interview data were collected from 14 suicide-bereaved individuals from 12 families. The first published study, using assimilation analysis (which is based on the Assimilation of Problematic Experiences Scale), analyzed the initial-stage bereavement experiences of an individual bereaved by suicide at three months after his loss. The second published study illustrated the grief trajectories of two suicide-bereaved individuals during the first 18 months after their loss, and the third study investigated eight individuals’ long-term suicide bereavement experiences at 10 to 41 years after their suicidal loss, along with the family-level impact of these suicides. The findings of this dissertation research may provide reference points for the provision of professional assistance and other social resources to bereaved family members, with the emphasis on intervention and support varying at different phases after suicidal loss. Different forms of assimilation analysis can enable a clear picture to be gained of the internal process of adjusting to suicidal loss at different post-loss stages. Moreover, the Assimilation of Problematic Experiences Scale may be further modified and developed to demonstrate the complex affect experienced by suicide-bereaved individuals. Future research could aim at creating an APES-based scale specifically for suicide bereavement.

Keywords: suicide; close ones; family members; families; coping; grief; grief work; experiences (knowledge); effects (results); assimilation (sociology); cultural dependence; doctoral dissertations

Free keywords: suicide bereavement; family members; family-level impact; qualitative research; assimilation analysis; China

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2023