The methodology and research participation experiences of participants in the aborted suicide attempt study

Abstract

The participants’ study participation experiences in an intensive research methodology that examined recent aborted suicide attempts were explored. Individuals aged 18 or above and whose suicide attempts were voluntarily aborted after the suicide crisis negotiation with the police negotiators were interviewed and followed up at 1 and 3 months after the initial interview. Eleven participants gave their consent to the Police Negotiation Cadre of the Hong Kong Police Force for further contact by the research team during June 2012 and December 2014. Nine aborted attempters completed the semi-structured interviews conducted by the research team about their suicide attempt processes and the events leading to that. Seven of them completed the 3 months follow up. The majority of the participants were positive about being approached to take part in the study. They found the experience of talking about their suicide attempts more positive than expected, and felt the study participation was useful for them and meaningful for the society. None of the participants reported being distressed by the recruitment method or the interviews. Results suggest that such sensitive non-treatment research when conducted ethically, participants could benefit from it.