Postvention Research Articles

Changing the legacy of suicide.

In the United States, despite the increase in knowledge about suicide, the rate of suicide has remained virtually unchanged for the past 30 years. The members of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) are uniquely qualified to determine what, if anything, can be done to reduce the rate of suicide. The restructuring of the association has produced the potential for cross-divisional collaboration, and yet conventional membership boundaries have resulted in unrealized opportunities to impact the rate of suicide. Dr. Edwin Shneidman, stated in Albert Cain's 1972 landmark book Survivors of Suicide that "postvention is prevention for the next generation" (p. x). The ability to design, implement, and study an effective model of postvention is within the considerable talents of our membership; however, doing so will require the commitment and flexibility of the entire association. By making postvention collaboration a goal of the association we can bring a national focus on suicide that could change the legacy of suicide.

Assessment of knowledge gains in proactive training for postvention.

This paper describes the development of a knowledge measure for the evaluation of a proactive training program for suicide postvention and analyses of its psychometric properties. The 25-item true-false knowledge test was administered before and after each of 12 training sessions; a total of 205 school personnel participated in the training and evaluation. Participants showed significant improvement in overall test scores and on several individual items following the training. Analyses suggested that the measure has construct validity, and that it taps a single underlying dimension. Strengths and weaknesses of the measure, and measurement issues in program evaluation are discussed.

Review of Suicide: Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention (2nd ed.).

Review of Suicide: Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention (2nd ed.).

Postvention: The Care of the Bereaved

Postvention: The Care of the Bereaved

Suicide: Prevention, Intervention, Postvention

Suicide: Prevention, Intervention, Postvention

Review of Suicide: Prevention, Intervention, Postvention.

Review of Suicide: Prevention, Intervention, Postvention.