Karolina Krysinska

University of Melbourne | MSD · Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

This rapid review assessed the suicide risk and risk factors of men who are survivors of sexual assault. We searched three academic databases (Cochrane, Medline and PsycINFO) for peer-reviewed articles in English published between 2010 and 2022. We rated the quality of the evidence based on the National Health and Medical Research Council Levels of...

General Practitioners (GPs) play a crucial role in the identification and support of young people at risk of suicidal behaviour and self-harm; however, no studies have explored GPs’ perspectives, approaches, challenges, and resource needs when working with this cohort in an Australian setting. This was a qualitative study where fifteen GPs (Mage =...

Objective This rapid review aimed to understand the rates of suicidal ideation and behaviours in men who are separated from intimate relationships, the co-occurrence of risk factors, and the effectiveness of suicide prevention interventions for them in order to inform future suicide prevention efforts. Method The review method followed a streamlin...

Background Suicide research aims to contribute to a better understanding of suicidal behaviour and its prevention. However, there are many ethical challenges in this research field, for example, regarding consent and potential risks to participants. While studies to-date have focused on the perspective of the researchers, this study aimed to invest...

Experiencing the suicide of a significant other, such as a family member or a friend, constitutes a major disruptive life event, which may exacerbate the risk of social, physical, and mental health problems, and suicidal behaviour in the bereaved individuals. This chapter describes how many people are bereaved by suicide, the possible grief reactio...

Family can play an important role in supporting a person at-risk of suicide, as well as through treatment and recovery after a suicide attempt. This text provides an overview of the impact a suicide attempt can have on the family and the needs of family carers. Examples of psychosocial interventions for people, mostly adolescents, who have made a s...

Research is essential for advancing our understanding of suicidal behavior and its prevention, and to offer effective help to those at-risk. However, suicide research entails a range of ethical challenges, which have started to receive some attention. This chapter discusses challenges regarding conducting studies with suicidal people and those bere...

Despite the general decline in the number of suicides in the world, suicide rates among older adults remain the highest in most countries. Unfortunately, suicide in late life also remains a somewhat neglected topic, and ageistic visions of age-related problems often make suicidal behaviour a justifiable choice. This chapter examines the most import...

Background: Having someone close die through suicide or another form of traumatic death is a distressing event in the lives of adolescents, putting them at risk of grief and mental health ramifications. As most research in this field has been focused on intrapersonal grief reactions, this study aimed to broaden the perspective by exploring the imp...

Objectives: Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is a significant positive change experienced by an individual following stressful or challenging life events in his or her life. PTG has been explored in various populations; however, only recently, the concept has been applied to suicide bereavement and postvention. This systematic review aims to explore whe...

Objectives: General practitioners (GPs) have a key role in supporting young people who present with suicidal behaviour/self-harm. However, little is known about young people's opinions and experiences related to GPs' practices for such presentations, and their decisions to disclose suicidal behaviour/self-harm to GPs. Additionally, existing guideli...

Background: Self-harm in young people can have a substantial negative impact on the well-being and functioning of parents and other carers. The "Coping with Self-Harm" booklet was originally developed in the UK as a resource for parents and carers of young people who self-harm, and an adaptation study of this resource was conducted in Australia. T...

Background Exposure to suicidal behavior may be associated with increased risk of suicide, suicide attempt, and suicidal ideation and is a significant public health problem. However, evidence to date has not reliably distinguished between exposure to suicide versus suicide attempt, nor whether the risk differs across suicide-related outcomes, which...

Background: Despite continuous research over the past 20 years in Australia there is still limited understanding of what works and what does not work in suicide prevention and where to invest research efforts that will help to expand this knowledge base. There is a recursive relationship between research activities, knowledge gain and the developm...

Suicide postvention comprises a concerted response to, and provision of care for, people bereaved by suicide including those impacted by the suicide of a family member, friend or person in their social network. Currently, various forms of postvention services are available, such as group support, grief counselling, outreach by agencies and online s...

Suicide and neuroticism: a multicenter study

Background: Suicide bereavement can have a lasting and devastating psychosocial impact on the bereaved individuals and communities. Many countries, such as Australia, have included postvention, i.e., concerted suicide bereavement support, in their suicide prevention policies. While little is known of the effectiveness of postvention, this review ai...

Background: Several countries have regulated euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Research has looked at the experiences of patients, family, and professionals. However, little is known of the effects on bereaved individuals. Aims: We aimed to assess (a) what is known about the grief and mental health of people bereaved by euthanasia or...

Objective: The aim of this multicenter study was to investigate the differences in personality traits, particularly Neuroticism, in three clinical samples and three student samples in Austria and Italy and their impact on suicide. Methods: In total, 1,043 people (410 psychiatric inpatients and 633 university students) were tested in three region...

Researchers and research ethics committees share a common goal of conducting ethically sound research. However, little is known of researchers’ experiences in obtaining ethics approval for suicide-related studies. This study aimed to investigate what concerns researchers have received on suicide-related ethics applications and how they dealt with i...

Objective: To systematically review the quality of evidence regarding the effectiveness of supports for people affected by suicide. Method: EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsychINFO were searched for evaluations of community-based supports for people affected by suicide. Outcomes included suicide-related behavior, depression, grief, quality of life, caring abi...

Background: Many organizations provide support to people affected by suicide-related behavior, for example, those bereaved by suicide, those who have attempted suicide, and their informal carers. However, evidence regarding how well used, and acceptable, these resources are is lacking. Aims: To investigate the views about and experiences with suppo...

Given the increasing trend in suicide mortality and its burden on individuals, families and communities, ethically sound research is crucial to improve the prevention of suicidal behaviour. However, few studies have looked at the experiences of researchers in obtaining ethics approval for their studies. This study addressed this gap by investigatin...

Objective: Fictional suicidal behaviour can affect the public as a risk or a protective factor, and it may reflect how suicide is perceived in a society. However, surprisingly little is known of how suicidal behaviour is portrayed in television series. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of televised fatal and non-fatal sui...

The authors wish to make the following corrections to (Krysinska et al [...]

Background Suicide bereavement is a risk factor for adverse outcomes related to grief, social functioning, mental health and suicidal behaviour. Consequently, suicide bereavement support (i.e., postvention) has been identified as an important suicide prevention strategy. However, little is known about its effectiveness. To redress this gap, this re...

Introduction It is unclear whether advance care planning (ACP) undertaken with patients living in the community can improve patient care and avoid unwanted interventions and hospital admissions. We have designed a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to examine if ACP undertaken with patients with advanced illnesses attending hospital outpatient clini...

Suicide on railway networks comprises a serious public health problem. However, the geographical distribution and the environmental risk factors remain unclear. This study analyzed the geographic distribution of railway suicides in Belgium from 2008–2013 at the level of a railway section (average length of 3.5 km). Principal component analysis (PCA...

Research and clinical practice indicate that religion and spirituality can play an important role in the suicidal process. Although religion and spirituality are often considered to be protective factors against suicidal ideation and behaviour, and significant reasons for living, in some circumstances they can contribute to suicide risk. The relati...

Objective: People bereaved by suicide, people who make suicide attempts and people who care for someone at risk of suicide may experience negative psychosocial and physical health outcomes. Provision of support to these populations is an important component of suicide prevention and postvention in Australia, including the Queensland Suicide Prevent...

Background Suicide and suicide-related behaviours are major public health concerns in Australia and worldwide. One universal intervention that has received an increased focus as a means of preventing suicide is the use of media campaigns. There is, however, a lack of understanding of the kinds of campaign messages that are safe and effective. The c...

Suicide is a major public health concern in Australia and globally, requiring targeted research efforts to build the evidence base for its effective prevention. We examined current and future priorities in Australian suicide prevention research during the period 2010-2017, and compared these to 1999-2006 baseline data. We classified current researc...

Background: Many of the bereaved through suicide are interested in participating in postvention studies. However, there is a contradiction between the positive experiences of research participation and concerns raised by ethical boards. Aims: To review studies on the experience of research participation by those bereaved through suicide, includi...

The current chapter presents an overview of psychological conceptualizations of gratitude, and the existing evidence base regarding the association between gratitude and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. The text discusses the possible mechanisms of the beneficial effects of gratitude on psychosocial and physical well-being, and presents rese...

Suicide prevention policy in Australia has had an increasing focus on building the evidence base to address this major public health concern. In recent times, the Australian Government has increased its investment in suicide prevention research. It has provided support for several initiatives in this area, including funding Suicide Prevention Austr...

Background Hope and resilience protect against inner vulnerabilities or harsh life circumstances; they explain individual differences in physical or mental health outcomes under high stress. They have been studied in complementary or competing theoretical frameworks; therefore, the study of measures of hope and resilience should be undertaken prior...

Background: Bereavement by suicide is associated with a number of consequences including poor mental health outcomes and increased suicide risk. Despite this, the bereaved by suicide may be reluctant to seek help from friends, family, and professionals. Internet forums and social networking sites are a popular avenue of support for the bereaved, b...

Based on psychological autopsy data, the study compared awareness of suicide risk in the deceased among next-of-kin (NOK) and health care professionals (HCPs), and communication between these two groups in the month before death. The NOKs had significantly more knowledge about the decedent's suicide warning signs than the HCPs (90.5% vs. 44.6%). Co...

Patient registries are valuable tools helping to address significant challenges in research, care, and policy. Registries, well embedded in many fields of medicine and public health, are relatively new in dementia. This systematic review presents the current situation in regards to dementia registries worldwide. We identified 31 dementia registries...

This study investigated the geographic distribution of suicide and railway suicide in Belgium over 2008--2013 on local (i.e., district or arrondissement) level. There were differences in the regional distribution of suicide and railway suicides in Belgium over the study period. Principal component analysis identified three groups of correlations am...

A unique and comprehensive handbook presenting the state of the art in suicide bereavement support https://us.hogrefe.com/shop/postvention-in-action-76282.html

Background: Since the mid-1990s concerns have been raised regarding the possible links between suicide and the Internet, especially among adolescents and young adults. Aims: To identify the nature and extent of the scientific publications, especially original research studies, on suicide and the Internet, and to investigate how the field has dev...

Suicidepreventie: een handboek voor de clinicus [in Dutch: Suicide prevention: A handbook for clinicians]. Book review of Wasserman, D. (Ed.) (2016), Suicide: an unncessary death (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Suicide is serious public health problem worldwide, with approximately one million people dying by suicide each year. This article presents the epidemiology of fatal and non-fatal suicidal behavior and ideation, and an overview of risk factors, including demographic factors, psychopathology, life events and coping styles, psychological, neurobiolog...

Therapeutisch werken met suicidepogers: hanvatten voor de clinicus [in Dutch: Therapeutic work with attempted suicides: tools for the clinician]. Book review of K. Michel & A. Gysin-Maillart (2015), ASSIP, Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program: A manual for clinicians. Gottingen: Hogrefe.

Objectives: To explore outcomes of preventive programs and psychosocial treatments for suicidal ideation and behaviour in gender sub-groups in mixed gender studies and in studies limited to one gender. Methods: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) which included women or men only, or reported and/or examined outcomes of psy...

This chapter highlights the importance of the family in the context of care and support for suicidal individuals, especially after a suicide attempt. An overview of selected professional mental health interventions is presented. A series of psycho-educational resources for those who made a suicide attempt, their family, and carers is presented, alo...

This chapter reviews research on whether religiosity is a protective factor for suicidal ideation and behavior. The results of the research are mixed, with the evidence suggesting a protective effect from religiosity, except for psychotic patients. The results differ by age and sex, and the protective impact of religiosity is more apparent for atte...

Suicide: an unnecessary death is a comprehensive summary of the study of suicide from the health-care and public mental health perspectives. The book offers an easy to read overview of prevention, diagnostics, and treatment, based on extensive research and experience of the foremost experts in suicidology. Suicidal behaviours are elucidated from th...

Objectives: There is accumulating evidence about effectiveness of a number of suicide prevention interventions, and a multilevel systems approach seems promising in reducing suicide risk. This approach requires that components ranging from individual-level to public health interventions are implemented simultaneously in a localised region. This pa...

Background: Various interventions have been introduced to try to prevent suicides at suicide hotspots, but evidence of their effectiveness needs to be strengthened. Methods: We did a systematic search of Medline, PsycINFO, and Scopus for studies of interventions, delivered in combination with others or in isolation, to prevent suicide at suicide...

Suicide was treated as a crime in medieval Europe. However, knowledge regarding the actual penal practice of suicide by the local courts is limited. Based on the published records of the city court of Mechelen, Belgium, 1366-1795, the current study provides an overview of the punishment of suicide and other capital crimes by this city court over a...

Although several studies have looked at the phenomenon of online memorialization, online involvement of those bereaved by suicide (suicide survivors) remains an understudied area. The current study analyzed 250 memorials dedicated to those who died by suicide on two memorialization Web sites: Faces of Suicide and Gone too Soon. The majority of the...

Background: Despite the progress of positive psychology, current knowledge regarding suicide protective factors is limited. Trait gratitude (a tendency to experience gratitude in daily life) may protect against suicidal ideation and behavior. Aims: The study tested a model of causal effects among gratitude, religiosity, reasons for living, copin...

This paper presents results of a time series (1950-1997) and an ecological study of suicide and homicide in Belgium and its ten provinces. Study 1 was based on Durkheim’s classic theory of suicide and Henry and Short’s model of suicide and homicide. Study 2 calculated the ‘natural suicide rate’, i.e. suicide rate if the social conditions are made ‘...

Wulff's two-dimensional model of approaches to religion was an inspiration for the development of the Post-Critical Belief Scale (PCBS), an instrument measuring religious attitudes, that is, “paradigms of religious belief structure” in a secularized Western European context. The scale has been frequently used in psychological studies, has undergone...

Suïcidaal gedrag bij kinderen en jongeren is een veelvoorkomend fenomeen. Toch leidt die hoge frequentie niet meteen tot een beter begrip van de proble-matiek. Er blijven veel misverstanden bestaan. Daarom biedt dit boek zowel up-to-date informatie als een overzicht van de hulpverlenings-en preventiemogelijkheden. Zo krijg je een overzicht dat vanu...

Citation analysis has been neglected in suicidology. The present note applies a mixed-methods approach to both test and suggest hypotheses for the variation in article impact in the bereavement literature. One hundred three articles from three core suicidology journals met the criteria for inclusion in the investigation. Citations to the articles w...

Background: Religion and spirituality can be valuable resources in coping with bereavement. There is a paucity of studies focusing specifically on their role in suicide bereavement, although there are indications that religion/spirituality can be helpful for suicide survivors. Aims: The study explores the role of religion and/or spirituality in...