Late adulthood suicide: A life-span analysis of suicid enotes

Older adults are the developmental age group across the lifespan at highest risk for suicide in many Western countries. Given the extent of the problem, the paucity of integrated and sound empirical research in this area is remarkable. Often the literature attributes the death to one or two variables (e.g., illness). However, a lifespan developmental approach calls for conceptualizing suicide in late adulthood from a multivariate perspective. This paper outlines two studies that were designed to investigate the suicide notes of the elderly in an adult lifespan perspective. The main conclusion is in support of a multivariate approach. There are more similarities than differences in suicide behaviour across the adult lifespan, although some differences were noted. The differences in the elderly appear to be issues of the inability to cope with the vicissitudes of aging (e.g., illness, isolation). It is concluded that future research is warranted.