ETUDE RCEHERCHE The use of social media after bereavement by suicide: results from a French online survey

The use of social media after bereavement by suicide: results from a French online survey 

Edouard Leaune  ^{1   2   3} , Héloïse Rouzé  ^{4   5} , Laurène Lestienne  ^{6   7} , Kushtrim Bislimi  ⁶ , Margot Morgiève  ^{7   8} , Benoit Chalancon  ^{6   7} , Pauline Lau-Taï  ⁶ , Guillaume Vaiva  ^{7   9   10} , Pierre Grandgenèvre  ^{7   9} , Julie Haesebaert  ^{4   5} , Emmanuel Poulet  ^{6   7   11}

Affiliations

¹ Research on Healthcare Performance RESHAPE, INSERM U1290, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France. edouard.leaune@ch-le-vinatier.fr.
² Center for Suicide Prevention, Centre Hospitalier le Vinatier, 95, Boulevard Pinel, 69500, BRON, France. edouard.leaune@ch-le-vinatier.fr.
³ Groupement d'Etude et de Prévention du Suicide, Brest, France. edouard.leaune@ch-le-vinatier.fr.
⁴ Research on Healthcare Performance RESHAPE, INSERM U1290, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
⁵ Service Recherche et Epidémiologie Cliniques, Pôle Santé Publique, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.
⁶ Center for Suicide Prevention, Centre Hospitalier le Vinatier, 95, Boulevard Pinel, 69500, BRON, France.
⁷ Groupement d'Etude et de Prévention du Suicide, Brest, France.
⁸ Cermes3, Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Inserm, Paris, France.
⁹ U1172-LilNCog-Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, University of Lille, CHU Lille, Inserm, Lille, France.
¹⁰ Centre National de Ressources & Résilience Pour Les psychotraumatismes (Cn2r Lille Paris), Lille, France.
¹¹ Department of Emergency Psychiatry, Hospital Edouard Herriot, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.

BMC Psychiatry. 2024 Apr 23;24(1):306. doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-05761-9.

Abstract

Background: According to recent research, the Internet and social media are shaping and changing how we die and mourn. However, the use of social media after bereavement by suicide remains poorly understood. Thus, emerging research is needed to better assess the role that social media can play after bereavement by suicide. The objective of our study was to evaluate the use of social media in French people bereaved by suicide and to assess their expectations toward social media.

Method: We conducted a national cross-sectional online survey including French people bereaved by suicide assessing their use of social media after the death of their relative. All adults bereaved by suicide were eligible to participate in the study. An online 26-item questionnaire collected sociodemographic and loss-related characteristics and evaluated four dimensions: (1) the use of social media in daily life, (2) the perceived needs regarding suicide bereavement, (3) the use of social media associated with the suicide loss, and (4) the expectations regarding the development of an online resource for people bereaved by suicide and proposals regarding the development of such a resource.

Results: Among 401 participants, 61.6% reported using social media after the death of their relative by suicide, especially those recently bereaved, those receiving counseling and bereaved parents. The participants mainly used social media to reach peers bereaved by suicide and to memorialize, while they expected social media to help them finding information on suicide and accessing bereaved peers. Younger participants were more prone to use social media to memorialize, while bereaved partners and those bereaved by the suicide of a parent were less prone to use them with such aim.

Discussion: A large part of people bereaved by suicide use social media for their grief process, mainly to contact peers bereaved by suicide and to memorialize their loved one. According to or results, social media contributes to contemporary grief processes after suicide bereavement and can be seen as putative means to improve the well-being of people bereaved by suicide.

Keywords: Grief; Social media; Suicide; Suicide bereavement.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38654345/