Suicide across the adult life-span: an archival study.

This archival study, concerning the demographic variable of age, involved the assessment of 8 identified classifications (clusters) as possible predictors of suicide notes and, by implication, suicide. The possible predictors, derived from the theoretical work of 10 suicidologists, were as follows: unbearable psychological pain, interpersonal relations, rejection-aggression, inability to adjust, indirect expressions, identification-egression, ego, and cognitive constriction. Independent judges noted the incidence of contents corresponding to 36 specific protocol sentences, constituting the 8 clusters, in 60 suicide notes--20 notes written by individuals in Young, Middle, and Late Adulthood. An analysis was able to discriminate the age groups on a number of clusters, notably in regard to Young Adults, although considerable commonalities were noted across the adult life span. The results indicate that a life-span perspective is essential when one is constructing a model to interpret suicide of adults.