LATE ADULTHOOD SUICIDE - A LIFE-SPAN ANALYSIS OF SUICIDE NOTES

Older adults are the developmental age group across the lifespan at hi ghest 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 development al approach calls for conceptualizing suicide in late adulthood from a multivariate perspective. This paper outlines two studies that were d esigned to investigate the suicide notes of the elderly in an adult li fespan perspective. The main conclusion is in support of a multivariat e approach. There are more similarities than differences in suicide be haviour across the adult lifespan, although some differences were note d. 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.