we compared bereavement by suicide death to measure the specific impact of suicide bereavement .
the researchers from university college london ( ucl ) studied 3,432 uk university staff and students aged 18 - 40 who had been bereaved , to examine the specific impacts associated with bereavement by suicide .
as well as the increased risk of suicide attempt , those bereaved by suicide were also 80 % more likely to drop out of education or work .
the researchers studied 3,432 uk university staff and students aged 18 - 40 who had been bereaved by suicide .
the results are published in bmj open .
contagion includes indirect as well as direct exposure to suicide , as health and human services explains .
given the possibility of selection bias ( favouring higher social classes ) and male non - response bias , the results of this study may be more generalisable to young bereaved women than men , and to the more highly educated .
strengths and limitations of this study we conducted a large population - based national survey of young adults .
our primary outcomes were validated measures of self - reported suicidal ideation and suicide attempt occurring after the bereavement , adjusted for prebereavement suicidal behaviour and psychopathology .