"Please Forgive Me:" Asian and Pacific Islander Americans' Suicide Notes

• Published in: Asian American journal of psychology 2022-06, Vol.13 (2), p.158-167
• Main Authors: Wong, Y. Joel, Deng, Kuo, Li, Yi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age Differences; Asians; Death and Dying; Female; Human; Human Sex Differences; Interpersonal Communication; Male; Older Adulthood; Pacific Islanders; Suicide; Written Communication
• ISSN: 1948-1985; 1948-1993
• DOI: 10.1037/aap0000234

Suicide notes are an understudied, yet important area of research because they provide insights into what suicide decedents intend to communicate to others in the moments before their tragic death. In this article, the authors report the first known national study to focus exclusively on Asian and Pacific Islander Americans' (APIAs) suicide notes using data from the National Violent Death Reporting System (N = 3,657). About 31% of APIA decedents left suicide notes. Females and youths (below 25 years old) had higher odds of leaving suicide notes than males as well as adults and older adults, respectively. An age by gender moderation effect revealed that female youths had higher odds of leaving a suicide note than female older adults, although there were no age differences in the likelihood of leaving a suicide note among male decedents. A content analysis of APIAs' suicide notes (n = 765) revealed several categories, including addressees of the suicide notes, difficulties described by decedents (e.g., thwarted belongingness), instructions (e.g., disposal of assets), grievances, and conciliatory interpersonal communications (e.g., apologies and expressing love). Apologies were the most frequent sub-category in APIAs' suicide notes. Overall, conciliatory interpersonal communications were more frequently expressed in suicide notes than negative interpersonal concerns (e.g., grievances). APIA youths also had higher odds than APIA adults (aged 25-59 years old) of expressing both negative interpersonal concerns and conciliatory interpersonal communications in their suicide notes. These findings highlight the importance of studying culturally salient protective and risk factors in APIAs' suicide-related outcomes. What is the public significance of this article? This study examined the suicide notes left by Asian and Pacific Islander Americans who died by suicide. The authors found that conciliatory interpersonal communications (e.g., apologies and bidding farewell) were more common than negative interpersonal concerns (e.g., grievances) in their suicide notes.