Brevard, Lester, and Yang in 1990, studying Menninger's motives for suicide, reported more evidence for the wish to be killed (i.e., self-blame or self-punishment) in suicide notes for completed suicides than in parasuicide notes for attempted suicide; however, they did not control for age and sex. A comparison of notes written by completed and attempted suicides that controlled for age and sex showed no differences in the presence of content which reflected Menninger's three motives for suicide, including the wish to be killed.
References
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BrevardA.LesterD.YangB. (1990) A comparison of suicide notes written by suicide completers and suicide attempters. Crisis, 11, 7–11.
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FarberowN. C.ShneidmanE. S. (1957) Suicide and age. In ShneidmanE. S.FarberowN. C. (Eds.), Clues to suicide. New York: McGraw-Hill. Pp. 41–49.
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LeenaarsA. A. (1988) Suicide notes. New York: Human Sciences Press.
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MenningerK. (1938) Man against himself. New York: Harcourt Brace & World.
