Booth, Fiona R. (2021) Suicide by Heavy Vehicle: The Lived Experience of Heavy Vehicle Drivers. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Suicide by heavy vehicle (SBHV) refers to any situation where an individual either places themselves, or the vehicle they are driving, into the path of a heavy vehicle with the intention of ending their life. Research suggests there are long-lasting impacts upon the drivers involved in these crashes. Presently the research investigating SBHV is limited, and there are no studies for understanding the impacts upon Australian drivers. The aim of this study was to improve understanding of Australian heavy vehicle drivers’ lived experiences of SBHV, including postvention support they may have received. This study analysed data from semistructured interviews with two drivers with a lived experience of SBHV. Using reflexive thematic analysis, two main themes were identified: coping and diversity of support. The first theme captured the ways in which participants coped with their SBHV experience at the crash and over the short and long-term following it. Two prominent ways of coping were identified: avoidance and making sense. The second theme, diversity of support, captures how support was received from a variety of others and in different ways, and how participants’ perceptions of this support varied. These themes included a temporal aspect and coping and support experiences were shown to be context dependant. These findings are the first step in understanding Australian heavy vehicle drivers’ SBHV experiences and received postvention support.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Andrea Lamont-Mills |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Jul 2025 01:12 |
| Last Modified: | 22 Jul 2025 01:12 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | heavy vehicle drivers ; truck drivers ; motor vehicle crashes ; road suicide ; posttraumatic stress disorder |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52166 |
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