Background Suicidal behavior is an important global health problem affecting also significant others. Both genetic and environmental influences play an important role in the development of suicidal behavior. There is a need of interventions for family and friends after a suicide attempt. The aim of this thesis was to assess the impact of family history of suicide (FHS) and early life adversity (ELA) on severity of suicidal behavior and on level of interpersonal problems in suicide attempters. Furthermore it aimed to evaluate a DBT-based skills training program, Family Connections (FC), for relatives and friends of suicide attempters. Methods Studies I and II included 181 suicide attempters. FHS was assessed with the Karolinska Self-Harm History Interview or in patient records. ELA was assessed with the Karolinska Interpersonal Violence Scale (KIVS) measuring exposure to interpersonal violence in childhood. Suicide intent was measured with the Freeman scale. Interpersonal problems were assessed with the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP). Study III, a pilot study evaluating the effect of FC for family members of suicide attempters, included 13 participants who completed the program with pre- and post-questionnaires. The experience of burden was assessed with the Burden Assessment Scale (BAS), general wellbeing with Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and level of depression was assessed with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The Swedish scale Questions About Family Members (QAFM) was used to explore the quality of the participants’ relationship with the patient and the Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) was used to measure satisfaction with life situation. Study IV included 132 family members, and investigated the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of FC in psychiatric care. Participants were assessed pre- and post-intervention with the following self-report questionnaires: BAS, QAFM and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. Results Male suicide attempters with FHS made more serious and well planned suicide attempts and had higher suicide risk. FHS and exposure to interpersonal violence as a child were independent predictors of suicide in male suicide attempters. Regarding interpersonal problems, suicide attempters with FHS had significantly more often an intrusive personal style, indicating that they might have an impaired ability to create stable, long-lasting relationships. In the pilot study the participants reported a significant reduction in burden, an improved psychic health and an improvement in the relationship with the patient after completing FC. In the fourth study, FC showed to be feasible and effectively implemented in a psychiatric outpatient services clinic. Regarding burden, results were in line with the pilot study, with a significant reduction in all subscales in BAS. Conclusions High-risk patients call for a consideration of both ELA and FHS in clinical suicide risk assessment. In suicide attempters at biological risk, suicide might be prevented with the early recognition of environmental risks. Further, the interpersonal problems associated with FHS may cause difficulties for suicide attempters to accept or benefit from treatment, and caregivers should take into account the characteristics of the suicide attempter´s interpersonal functioning. The results from the pilot study provide support for the need and importance of an educational program addressed specifically to family members of suicide attempters. Preliminary results support the feasibility and potential value of an implementation of FC in psychiatric open care clinics.

Abstract In recent years in Finland suicide has been discussed in the context of mental health problems. Together with psychiatric disorders, suicide has been seen as a result of adverse social conditions. Occasionally suicide has even been seen as a public health problem. This interpretation has been justified by Finland’s internationally high suicide rates. The inclusion of suicide in medical and psychiatric discussions as well as the production of scientific data on suicide through medical research have resulted in the widely accepted view of suicide as a medical problem. This thesis examines the history of Finnish medical suicide research and the production of psychiatric knowledge on suicide. Finnish suicide research dates back to the middle of the 19th century, when the conception of suicide as a scientific problem arrived in Finland from Continental Europe and the UK. Suicide remained a crime in the Finnish Penal Code until the early 1890s, but the idea of suicide as a medical, rather than moral, legal or theological issue gradually began to gain ground already in the early 19th century. By decriminalizing suicide the Grand Duchy of Finland followed the example set by the Western European countries. The early Finnish suicide research was linked to the French and the English debates on suicide. The emerging European medical conception of suicide was based on social beliefs, psychiatric discussions and early sociological theories rooted in statistical data. As part of the institutional and intellectual development of psychiatry, Finnish suicide research arrived at a new phase after the Second World War. The conception of suicide as an expression of national character or a product of racial characteristics gave way to a new conceptualization based on psychoanalytically oriented psychiatric research. In the 1970s, social psychiatric research began to look for the social determinants behind the suicide rates. This, in turn, prepared the ground for a nationwide suicide prevention project launched in the late 1980s. This thesis aims to shed light on the historical background of this project. The primary source material consists of documents related to Finnish medical suicide research and the discussion about suicide in medical journals in Finland from 1864 to 1985. / Tiivistelmä Itsemurhasta on Suomessa viime vuosina ja vuosikymmeninä puhuttu mielenterveyden ongelmien yhteydessä. Psykiatristen häiriöiden ohella itsemurhat on nähty yhteiskunnallisten olosuhteiden sairastuttavan vaikutuksen tuloksena. Ajoittain itsemurhista on puhuttu jopa kansanterveysongelmana. Tulkintaa on perusteltu viittaamalla kansainvälisesti ja varsinkin länsimaihin verrattuna korkeisiin itsemurhalukuihin. Pelkkiin lukuihin katsominen ei kuitenkaan riitä jonkin ilmiön leimaamiseen terveysongelmaksi. Tulkinnan syntyminen on edellyttänyt lääketieteellisen tutkimuksen kautta syntynyttä tietoa sekä itsemurhailmiön kytkemistä osaksi lääketieteellistä ja psykiatrista keskustelua. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan suomalaisen lääketieteellisen itsemurhatutkimuksen historiaa ja itsemurhia koskevan tiedon tuottamista. Suomalaisen itsemurhatutkimuksen juuret ulottuvat 1800-luvun puoleen väliin, jolloin käsitykset itsemurhasta tieteellisenä ongelmana rantautuivat Suomeen Manner-Euroopasta ja Isosta-Britanniasta. Tulkinta itsemurhasta pikemminkin lääketieteellistä kuin moraalista, juridista tai teologista käsittelyä edellyttävänä ilmiönä alkoi voittaa alaa 1800-luvun kuluessa. Dekriminalisoidessaan itsemurhan 1890-luvulla Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta seurasi Länsi-Euroopan maiden esimerkkiä. Varhainen suomalainen itsemurhatutkimus oli kytköksissä 1800-luvun ranskalaiseen ja englantilaiseen psykiatriseen tutkimukseen, yhteiskunnallisiin teorioihin ja väestötilastotietoihin nojaaviin käsityksiin. Osana psykiatrian institutionaalista ja tieteenhistoriallista kehitystä suomalainen itsemurhatutkimus astui toisen maailmansodan jälkeen uuteen vaiheeseen. Käsitykset itsemurhasta kansanluonteen tai rodullisten piirteiden ilmaisuna väistyivät, kun psykoanalyyttisesti orientoitunut tutkimus alkoi etsiä itsemurhan tiedostamattomia psyykkisiä syitä. 1970-luvulla psykiatrinen itsemurhatutkimus suuntautui yksilön mielen ohella yhteiskunnallisiin taustatekijöihin osana sosiaalipsykiatrista tutkimusta. Näin luotiin pohjaa 1980-luvun lopulla käynnistetylle valtakunnalliselle itsemurhien ehkäisyhankkeelle, jonka tieteenhistoriallista taustaa tämä tutkimus valottaa. Tämän tutkimuksen keskeisimmän lähdeaineiston muodostavat suomalaiset lääketieteellisestä näkökulmasta laaditut itsemurhatutkimukset ja itsemurhia käsitelleet tutkimusartikkelit vuosivälillä 1864–1985.