The Psychological Autopsy Approach to Studying Suicide: a Review of Methodological Issues

In order to assist future researchers & to help readers assess reports of psychological autopsy studies, the authors have reviewed methodological issues on the basis of their own experiences & those of others. The areas covered include research design, identification of subjects, sources of information, & the particular issues concerned with approaching relatives & other informants, choice & recruitment of controls, the difficulties of conducting psychological autopsy interviews with relatives, problems for interviewers, the selection of appropriate measures to obtain information, & achieving validity & reasonably reliable conclusions from diverse information sources. (34 refs.)