Resource Tag: MEANS RESTRICTION

Background: While some suicide prevention initiatives distribute locking devices for firearms and medication, little evidence exists to guide the selection of devices. Aims: This study aimed to describe safety standards for locking devices and compare parental acceptance rates for different types of devices. Method: As part of the larger SAFETY Study, behavioral health clinicians provided free locking devices to parents […]

This systematic review analyses research that introduces commercial design applications that could be adopted for suicide prevention in homes. Furthermore, this literature review captures social, spatial and biophilic design methods to improve wellness in homes using environmental design psychology. Safety and human wellness frame this spatial design research that examines means and access restriction to […]

Surveillance is a crucial part of suicide prevention, for identifying suicide trends, risk groups, suicide clusters (World Health Organization (WHO), 2014) and frequently used locations for suicide. Suicide sites are  usually public, natural or man-made objects known for their use for suicidal behaviour (e.g. bridges or cliffs) (Ross et al., 2020). Some suicide prevention activities […]

Objective: The causal reasons for gender differences in suicide attempt and suicide death have been addressed by previous studies: Some emphasized suicidal intent, while others focused on method lethality. The  present study is to examine the effects of suicidality levels defined as severity of intent and method lethality on gender differences. Methods: The data were […]

Background: Evidence-based best practices for incorporation into an optimal multilevel intervention for suicide prevention should be identifiable in the literature. Aims: To identify effective interventions for the prevention of suicidal behavior. Methods: Review of systematic reviews found in the Pubmed, Cochrane, and DARE databases. Steps include risk-of-bias assessment, data extraction, summarization of best practices, and identification of synergistic […]

Introduction Two-thirds of military suicides are by firearm, and unsafe storage increases the risk of suicide. Understanding who is at risk for suicide, their interactions with behavioral healthcare, and their firearm storage habits have implications for suicide prevention. Method Probability-based sampling was used. Inclusion criteria were current military service and firearm ownership. Analyses focused on […]

Background Firearms account for over 40,000 deaths in the USA each year in addition to thousands of nonfatal injuries. One notable prevention strategy for firearm-related fatalities and nonfatal injuries is safe storage. Safe storage of firearms emphasizes using storage mechanisms that limit ready access of firearms to unauthorized users. Cable locks are one safe storage […]

Means restriction interventions are recognised as highly effective for the deterrence of suicide attempts by jumping. While such interventions can lead to significant reductions in suicide, it is unclear whether these reductions represent a displacement effect, whereby individuals are instead choosing to attempt suicide at other nearby locations which offer the same means. The potential […]

Objectives In 2013, the state of Maryland passed the Firearms Safety Act limiting the private sales of handguns, which did not apply to long guns often used for hunting (e.g., rifles and shotguns). This decreased the accessibility of handguns relative to long guns. We assessed the frequency of long gun suicides in the years before […]

Background Firearm injuries are the second leading cause of death in American youth aged 15 to 24, and over half of these deaths are suicides. Self-harm deaths in Wisconsin among adolescents have increased by 34% since 2006. Each year, our pediatric emergency department (ED) staff care for over 1100 children and adolescents who present with […]

Background: Epidemiological evidence links Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to increased risk of suicide. The research aimed to describe awareness among primary care pediatricians (PCPs) of ADHD as a  risk factor for suicide and PCPs’ practices of suicide risk assessment (SRA) and firearms safety assessment (FSA) in teens with ADHD. Method: An online survey was […]

Background: Firearm suicide is a significant public health problem in the United States of America among the general and veteran populations. Broad-based preventive strategies, including lethal means safety, have been emphasized as a key approach to suicide prevention. Prior research has identified ways to improve the reach and uptake of lethal means safety messages. However, few […]

Objective Firearms are a highly lethal and commonly used means of suicide. Firearm retailers may be an important group of community members to train as they guide sales and have conversations about firearm-related laws and safety issues with customers. This study presents findings from the largest survey to date of independently owned firearm retailers (n = 178) […]

Objective To assess the impact of the “Pause. Call. Be Heard” campaign on help-seeking and suicidal behaviors within rail environment in Victoria, Australia. Methods An anonymous online survey was conducted to measure noticeability of and engagement with the campaign and help-seeking intentions and behaviors among rail commuters at 10 rail stations. We generated descriptive statistics […]

Objective Firearm means safety strategies, such as safe storage, are effective in reducing suicide rates but are not widely implemented in the United States. This study examined the association between reason for firearm ownership, beliefs about firearm ownership and storage and suicide risk, willingness to engage in means safety, and current firearm storage practices. Method […]

Background The suicide rate among Veterans is 1.5 times greater than that for civilians, partly a result of the high use of firearms as the means for suicide. One effective strategy to reduce Veteran suicide by firearms is to provide counseling on firearm safety as a method of means reduction. However, many clinicians do not […]

Background Reducing firearm access during times of risk is a key component of suicide prevention, including the person at risk voluntarily, temporarily storing firearms outside the home. However, this approach relies on the participation of storage providers (ranges/retailers and law enforcement agencies (LEAs)). Our objective was to describe stakeholders’ views and experiences surrounding voluntary, temporary […]

Objective Seventy percent of suicides among U.S. veterans are due to firearm injury. Because discussions about firearm access are an important component of evidence-based suicide prevention programs, we sought to quantify the proportion of U.S. veterans who have discussed firearm safety with a healthcare provider. Methods Data come from a probability-based, nationally representative online survey […]

Previous evidence has highlighted the potential roles of both physical and psychological distance to suicide methods as an important factor in conferring suicide risk; however, less is known about the temporal stability of and associations between these constructs, other facets of capability for suicide, and suicide-related outcomes. The present study examined fluctuations in and associations […]

More than 800 000 people die every year from suicide, and about 20 times more attempt suicide. In most countries, suicide risk is highest in older males, and risk of attempted suicide is highest in younger females. The higher lethal level of suicidal acts in males is explained by the preference for more lethal methods, […]

This chapter provides a synthesis of the empirical literature that assesses the relationship between ready access to highly lethal means of suicide and overall suicide rates. It lays out the theoretical underpinnings of the assertion that reducing access to lethal means of suicide can reduce suicide rates. The most convincing evidence that restricting access to […]

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is on a mission to end suicide among those who have served, or are currently serving, in the armed forces. Suicide is complicated and tragic, but it’s also preventable  –  and safe firearm storage is an important part of suicide prevention. There is no single cause of suicide: […]

Background: Few studies have investigated whether means accessibility is related to the spatial distribution of suicide. Aims: To examine the hypothesis that indicators of the accessibility to specific suicide methods were associated with method-specific suicide rates in Taipei City, Taiwan. Method: Smoothed standardized mortality ratios for method-specific suicide rates across 432 neighborhoods and their associations with means accessibility indicators were estimated using […]