Table 1

Characteristics of participants by type of bereavement exposure

Participants bereaved by:Sudden natural death (n=2106)Sudden unnatural death (n=712)Suicide
(n=614)
Total
(n=3432)
p Value*
Sociodemographic characteristics
 Gender (n (%))†
  Female1709 (81)576 (81)499 (81)2784 (81)0.955
  Missing1 (<1)0 (0)0 (0)1 (<1)
 Age of participant† mean (SD)24.9 (6.3)25.2 (6.3)25.2 (6.0)25.0 (6.3)0.069
 Self-defined ethnicity (n (%))
  White1877 (89)645 (91)562 (92)3084 (90)0.102
  Missing1 (<1)2 (<1)0 (0)3 (<1)
Socioeconomic status (n (%))†‡
 Social classes 1.1 and 1.2603 (29)224 (32)176 (29)1003 (29)0.604
 Social class 2684 (33)234 (33)204 (33)1122 (33)
 Social class 3259 (12)77 (11)68 (11)404 (12)
 Social class 490 (4)34 (5)32 (5)156 (5)
 Social classes 5, 6, 7 and 9409 (19)115 (16)113 (18)638 (19)
 Missing61 (3)27 (4)21 (3)109 (3)
Educational status (n (%))
 Attained up to secondary school leaving qualification964 (46)286 (40)255 (42)1505 (44) 0.035
 Attained degree or above1136 (54)424 (60)359 (59)1919 (56)
 Missing6 (<1)2 (<1)0 (0)8 (<1)
Student status (n (%))
 Student1797 (85)613 (86)526 (86)2936 (86)0.905
 Staff253 (12)78 (11)68 (11)399 (12)
 Both55 (3)21 (3)20 (3)96 (3)
 Missing1 (<1)0 (0)0 (0)1 (<1)
Measure of social support (n (%))§
 No lack of perceived social support1234 (59)411 (58)345 (56)1990 (58)0.297
 Moderate lack of perceived social support549 (26)197 (28)168 (27)914 (27)
 Severe lack of perceived social support323 (15)102 (14)100 (16)525 (15)
 Missing0 (0)2 (<1)1 (<1)3 (<1)
Clinical characteristics
Personality disorder screen positive (n (%))¶
 Yes743 (35)227 (32)225 (37)1195 (35)0.071
 Missing131 (6)31 (4)33 (5)195 (6)
Family history of psychiatric problems (n (%))
 Yes1243 (59)434 (61)412 (67)2089 (61) 0.005
 Missing153 (7)41 (6)39 (6)233 (7)
Other family history of suicide (n (%))†
 Yes123 (6)41 (6)53 (7)217 (6)0.071
 Missing158 (8)43 (6)40 (7)241 (7)
Preloss non-suicidal self-harm and suicide attempt (n (%))†
 Yes434 (21)134 (19)150 (24)718 (21)0.050
 Missing157 (8)41 (6)41 (7)239 (7)
Preloss depression (n (%))†
 Yes370 (18)129 (18)143 (23)642 (19) 0.015
 Missing85 (4)21 (3)24 (4)130 (4)
Characteristics of the bereavement
Kinship to the deceased (n (%))†
 Blood relative1786 (85)351 (49)296 (48)2433 (71) <0.001
 Unrelated313 (15)356 (50)317 (52)980 (29)
 Missing7 (<1)5 (1)1 (<1)13 (<1)
Age of the deceased (mean (SD))55.1 (21.5)31.0 (17.4)31.9 (15.2)45.9 (22.8) <0.001
Time since bereavement† (mean (SD))4.8 (5.3)5.3 (5.4)5.1 (5.0)5.0 (5.3)0.140
Bereavement in last 2 years (n (%))
 Yes707 (34)186 (26)168 (27)1061 (31) <0.001
 No1399 (67)526 (74)446 (73)2371 (69)
GEQ stigma subscale score (mean (SD))11.9 (3.8)12.3 (4.0)14.0 (4.3)12.3 (4.0) <0.001
Time point rated as worst stage after the loss (n (%))
 Within a week560 (25)156 (22)148 (24)824 (24)0.112
 Up to a month330 (16)92 (13)81 (13)503 (15)
 Up to 6 months330 (16)122 (17)112 (18)564 (16)
 Up to a year359 (17)147 (21)101 (17)607 (18)
 Up to 3 years216 (10)80 (11)69 (11)365 (11)
 Over 3 years181 (9)62 (9)59 (10)302 (9)
 Missing170 (8)53 (8)44 (7)267 (8)
Bereavement support
Any formal/informal support†† received after bereavement (n (%))
 Yes1573 (75)558 (78)441 (72)2572 (75) 0.031
 No446 (21)131 (18)148 (24)725 (21)
 Missing87 (4)23 (3)25 (4)135 (4)
Formal/informal support perceived to be valuable (of n=2572) (n (%))
 Yes1335 (85)464 (83)374 (85)2173 (85)0.621
 No216 (14)85 (15)59 (13)360 (14)
 Missing22 (1)9 (2)8 (2)39 (2)
Type of formal/informal support received (of n=2572) (n (%))
 Formal only217 (14)76 (14)68 (15)361 (14)0.922
 Informal only796 (51)286 (51)220 (50)1302 (51)
 Both formal and informal560 (36)196 (35)153 (35)909 (35)
Point at which any valuable support received after loss (n (%))
 Within a day623 (30)234 (33)150 (24)1007 (29) 0.001
 Within a week290 (14)72 (10)69 (11)431 (13)
 Within a month154 (7)50 (7)44 (7)248 (7)
 Within 6 months117 (6)35 (5)46 (8)198 (6)
 Within a year58 (3)31 (4)15 (2)104 (3)
 Over a year124 (6)49 (7)58 (10)231 (7)
 At no point632 (30)211 (30)198 (32)1041 (30)
 Missing108 (5)30 (4)34 (6)172 (5)
Whether help sought after self-harm postbereavement (n (%))‡‡
 Yes42/112 (38)8/42 (19)19/56 (34)69/210 (33)0.093
 No70/112 (63)34/42 (81)37/56 (66)141/210 (67)
  • *Significance threshold of p=0.05; not adjusted for multiple testing.

  • †Prespecified confounding variable used in adjusted models.

  • ‡Socioeconomic status using the five categories from UK Office for National Statistics.

  • §Measure of social support from Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey.25

  • ¶Self-report Standardized Assessment of Personality-abbreviated Scale (SAPAS-SR) screen for personality disorder.33

  • ††Excluding self-help.

  • ‡‡In subsample of n=210 who had made a suicide attempt since the index bereavement.

  • GEQ, Grief Experience Questionnaire.