Do mental or somatic diagnoses influence emotional response and perception of physician-assisted suicide in Germany? A vignette-based experiment.

IF 3 1区 哲学 Q1 ETHICS
Laura Hofmann, Birgit Wagner
{"title":"Do mental or somatic diagnoses influence emotional response and perception of physician-assisted suicide in Germany? A vignette-based experiment.","authors":"Laura Hofmann, Birgit Wagner","doi":"10.1186/s12910-025-01223-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is increasingly being legalized in a growing number of countries and is the focus of societal and ethical debates. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the perception and acceptance of PAS across different physical and mental health conditions. This study aimed to explore emotional responses, understanding, and willingness to support individuals with the wish for PAS.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants from the general German population (N = 512) were presented with four case vignettes of PAS depicting individuals in an online study: one with cancer, one with depression, one with schizophrenia, and one healthy individual. Participants were asked to evaluate the emotional reactions elicited by the desire for PAS, the extent of their understanding of this wish, and their willingness to support each individual.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study revealed significant differences in reactions to the case vignettes. Pro-social emotions were lowest and anger highest when considering the healthy individual. Participants demonstrated the greatest understanding and highest willingness to support the individual with cancer, while the least understanding and support were observed for the healthy person.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The differential levels of support for PAS across various conditions underscore the complex interplay between societal values, perceived quality of life, and ethical considerations, particularly when mental health is involved.</p>","PeriodicalId":55348,"journal":{"name":"BMC Medical Ethics","volume":"26 1","pages":"62"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12079990/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"BMC Medical Ethics","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-025-01223-3","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ETHICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is increasingly being legalized in a growing number of countries and is the focus of societal and ethical debates. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the perception and acceptance of PAS across different physical and mental health conditions. This study aimed to explore emotional responses, understanding, and willingness to support individuals with the wish for PAS.

Methods: Participants from the general German population (N = 512) were presented with four case vignettes of PAS depicting individuals in an online study: one with cancer, one with depression, one with schizophrenia, and one healthy individual. Participants were asked to evaluate the emotional reactions elicited by the desire for PAS, the extent of their understanding of this wish, and their willingness to support each individual.

Results: The study revealed significant differences in reactions to the case vignettes. Pro-social emotions were lowest and anger highest when considering the healthy individual. Participants demonstrated the greatest understanding and highest willingness to support the individual with cancer, while the least understanding and support were observed for the healthy person.

Conclusions: The differential levels of support for PAS across various conditions underscore the complex interplay between societal values, perceived quality of life, and ethical considerations, particularly when mental health is involved.

在德国,精神或躯体诊断是否影响情绪反应和对医生协助自杀的看法?一个基于图像的实验。
背景:在越来越多的国家,医生协助自杀(PAS)正日益合法化,并成为社会和伦理辩论的焦点。然而,关于不同身心健康状况下PAS的认知和接受程度的知识有限。本研究旨在探讨情绪反应、理解和意愿,以支持个人的愿望PAS。方法:来自德国普通人群的参与者(N = 512)在一项在线研究中呈现了四个PAS病例插图:一个患有癌症,一个患有抑郁症,一个患有精神分裂症,一个健康个体。参与者被要求评估对PAS的渴望所引起的情绪反应,他们对这种愿望的理解程度,以及他们支持每个人的意愿。结果:研究揭示了对病例图片的反应有显著差异。健康个体的亲社会情绪最低,愤怒情绪最高。参与者对癌症患者表现出最大的理解和最高的支持意愿,而对健康的人则表现出最少的理解和支持。结论:不同情况下对PAS的不同支持水平强调了社会价值观、感知生活质量和伦理考虑之间复杂的相互作用,特别是当涉及到心理健康时。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
BMC Medical Ethics
BMC Medical Ethics MEDICAL ETHICS-
CiteScore
5.20
自引率
7.40%
发文量
108
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: BMC Medical Ethics is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in relation to the ethical aspects of biomedical research and clinical practice, including professional choices and conduct, medical technologies, healthcare systems and health policies.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:604180095
Book学术官方微信