Family-based suicide prevention: The bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Suicide occurs due to untreated mental health issues. A family-based approach serves as one of the solutions to prevent suicide cases. This study aims to identify research trends in suicide and family-based prevention and to explore research opportunities within this theme. Using bibliometric analysis, the researchers conducted a systematic mapping study of the Scopus database. Through various stages of document selection, 725 documents were ready for further analysis. This study identifies publication trends, core sources, the most productive authors, affiliations, and countries, primary documents, keyword trends, and topic developments. Researchers mapped the temporal trends in article keywords and the shifts in topic trends. The development of suicide prevention themes leads to (1) family-based suicide prevention, (2) suicidal ideation, self-harm, and prevention, (3) suicide factors in various age groups, (4) mixed-methods psychological autopsy for cross-cultural research (MPAC), (5) inherited risk of suicide, (6) multilevel intervention on alcohol and suicide, (7) suicidal family members, and (8) reasons for suicide. Many studies recommend the role of the family in preventing suicide and self-harm. The researcher successfully identified the direction of the theme’s development, thereby opening significant opportunities for future research. In future research, researchers need to design suicide and self-harm prevention programs at the individual, family, peer, and community levels, considering the target demographics. In addition, researchers should study caregivers and offspring of families who commit suicide to prevent the spread of this mental health problem.