Death perception of suicide attempters: An investigation in terms of mentalization capacity and passivity, assertiveness and aggression attitudes

Suicide is an important public health problem with increasing prevalence worldwide. In the literature, there are many theories explaining suicide from different perspectives and studies have been conducted on many psychological variables that may affect suicidal behaviours. However, it has been observed that studies on the effect of the way we perceive death on suicidal behaviours are insufficient. In this study, it was aimed to examine how people who attempted suicide perceive death, how their mentalizing capacities are and which behavioural ways they prefer to express their feelings and thoughts when faced with difficult situations. In addition, the relationships between the meanings of death, mentalizing capacity and passivity, assertiveness and aggression attitudes were also examined. For this purpose, 124 people with a history of suicide attempts and 138 people without suicide attempts were reached. Participants completed the Demographic Information Form, Meanings of Death Scale, Mentalization Scale and Passivity, Assertiveness, Aggression Scale online. The research data were analysed using SPSS software. Firstly, reliability analyses of the scales used were performed, independent groups t test was used to compare the participants with and without suicide attempts, and correlation analysis was performed to examine the relationship between variables. According to the results of the study, it was found that the participants with a history of suicide attempt had significantly higher scores in the extinction dimension of the meanings of death, lower mentalizing capacities and higher aggression attitudes compared to those without a history of suicide attempt. Correlations at high significance level were not found in the relationships between the variables related to the meanings of death, mentalization and attitudes. However, with correlations found at medium and weak levels, it was seen that as the mentalising capacity increased, assertiveness attitudes increased, and as the mentalizing capacity decreased, passivity and aggression attitudes increased.