Quality of life, depression, and psychosocial mechanisms of suicide risk in prostate cancer

Authors

  • Dean A. Tripp Queen's University
  • Valentina Mihajlovic Department of Psychology, Queen's University
  • Katherine Fretz Department of Psychology, Queen's University
  • Gagan Fervaha School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences; Department of Urology
  • Jason Izard Department of Urology; Department of Oncology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
  • Rebecca Corby Department of Psychology, Queen's University
  • D. Robert Siemens Department of Urology; Department of Oncology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5489/cuaj.6310

Keywords:

depression, suicide, prostate cancer, psychache

Abstract

Introduction: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common non-cutaneous cancer in men and is usually identified at a stage at which prolonged survival is expected. Therefore, strategies to address survivorship and promote well-being are crucial. This study’s aim was to better understand suicidal behavior in PCa patients by examining psychosocial mediators (i.e., depression, psychache, perceived burdensomeness [PB], thwarted belongingness [TB]) in the relationship between quality of life (PCa-QoL) and suicide risk.

Methods: Four hundred and six men with PCa (Median age 69.35 years, standard deviation 7.79) completed an online survey on various psychosocial variables associated with suicide risk. A combined serial/parallel mediation model tested whether depression, in serial with both psychache and PB/TB, mediated the relationship between PCa-QoL and suicide risk.

Results: Over 14% of participants’ self-reports indicated clinically significant suicide risk. Poorer PCa-QoL was related to greater depression, which was related to both greater psychache and PB/ TB, which was associated with greater suicide risk. The serial mediation effect of depression and psychache was significantly stronger than that of depression and PB/TB. PCa-QoL did not predict suicide risk through depression alone, showing that depressive symptoms affect suicide risk through psychache and PB/TB.

Conclusions: Given the alarming estimate of individuals at risk for suicide in this study, clinicians should consider patients with poorer PCa-QoL and elevated depression for psychosocial referral or management. Psychache (i.e., psychological pain) and PB/TB (i.e., poor social fit) may be important targets for reducing suicide risk intervention beyond the impact of depression alone.

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Published

2020-05-12

How to Cite

Tripp, D. A., Mihajlovic, V., Fretz, K., Fervaha, G., Izard, J., Corby, R., & Siemens, D. R. (2020). Quality of life, depression, and psychosocial mechanisms of suicide risk in prostate cancer. Canadian Urological Association Journal, 14(10), E487–92. https://doi.org/10.5489/cuaj.6310

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 10 (2020): CUAJ October

Section

Original Research

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