A Systematic Review Comparing the Pre-event Behaviours of Suicide by Mass Violence With Individuals Who Commit Suicide Without Mass Violence

Intro: Perpetrators of mass violence and individuals who commit suicide have been discussed in terms of the experiencing similar ideations and tendencies. This has led to the promotion of utilising suicide prevention strategies to aid the reduction of mass violence probability. However, there is minimal research in terms of the identifying differentiation behaviours between potential mass violence and individuals who potentially will commit suicide without mass violence. Method The present study involves a comparative systematic review of both suicide research and mass violence research, to explore and identify behavioural similarities and differences in pre-event behaviour between the two phenomena. Results: The results showcase key similarities but more notably, six key behavioural differences, especially in terms of externalisation and internalisation. Conclusion: There are potentially six key behavioural pre-event differences between mass violence and individuals who commit suicide without mass violence. Implications and future research are discussed.