This is a revised proposal requesting small grant support to conduct a pioneering project to study suicide in China. The high suicide rates in China, especially those for rural young women in China have recently been noticed by the international community with China's open door policy. So far, no scientific and systematic studies have been accomplished to investigate the leading cause of premature death in China, where the overall suicide rate is one of the highest in the world and approximately 56 percent of the world's female suicides - about 500 a day - occur in China. The long term goal of our research team is to develop and test suicide prevention measures that are efficient and effective for use by young women in rural China, as well as other populations in China. The current small grant is proposed to conduct a feasibility study of psychological autopsy (PA) to be later used in China for a larger scale survey on the effect of mental health on Chinese suicide. Instruments commonly used in the US need to be pilot studied for their reliability and validity with Chinese samples. In addition, we will make full use of the data, if feasibility and instrument tests are passed, to conduct some exploratory studies to examine some very basic questions in Chinese suicide. Dalian Medical University in China will collaborate to collect data.
The aim for this project are as follows: (1). To examine the feasibility of the psychological autopsy (PA) method for the studies of completed suicides in China using rural suicides aged 15-49 (n=65) and matched normal controls (n=65) (2). To test the reliability and validity of the instruments to be used in future studies with rural Chinese suicides aged 15-9 and matched normal controls (3). To pilot study the effects of psychiatric status, suicidal intent, life events, and social support on Chinese rural young female suicide with a case control design.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 13 publications
