Quantifying suicide risk in bereaved individuals

Types of interpersonal loss through death, such as suicide bereavement, are associated with increased suicide risk. Quantification of suicide risk is less understood across the spectrum of traumatic (e.g., violent) and natural loss, representing a significant literature gap that could be addressed to inform the assessment of and intervention on suicide risk in bereaved adults.

A web panel of 2,034 adult participants was administered via Qualtrics to gather data on suicide risk across loss types in bereaved individuals. Loss groups included (a) anticipated medical causes, (b) sudden medical causes, (c) car crash, (d) suicide, (e) homicide, and (f) fatal overdose. We also included individuals reporting no significant loss.

Individuals with an anticipated medical loss reported the lowest suicide risk, with the highest risk reported by individuals experiencing suicide or homicide loss. Adjusting for perceived social support, individuals reporting an anticipated medical loss had lower suicide risk relative to suicide and homicide loss, while individuals with a sudden medical loss reported lower suicide risk than suicide loss. Individuals endorsing suicide loss described higher suicide risk than the no-loss group, and individuals in the homicide loss group reported higher suicide risk relative to the no-loss condition.

Suicide risk was most elevated in traumatic loss conditions, particularly homicide and suicide loss groups. Results inform assessment and intervention surrounding bereaved individuals and suggest that individuals experiencing specific types of traumatic loss (i.e., suicide and homicide loss) are at the highest suicide risk and therefore may warrant additional screening and clinical attention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).