Does adversity early in life affect general population suicide rates? a cross-national study

Ajit Shah,Ritesh Bhandarkar

doi:10.5249/jivr.v3i1.70

Abstract

:Background:Adversity early in life has been suggested as a protective factor for elderly suicides. However, studies examining this relationship in general population suicide rates are scarce.Methods:The relationship between general population suicide rates and four proxy measures of adversity earlier in life was examined using data from the World Health Organization and the United Nations data banks.Results:General population suicide rates were negatively correlated with the percentage of children under the age of 5 years who were underweight, the percentage of children under the age of 5 years who were under height, the percentage of infants with low birth weight babies, and the percentage of the general population that was undernourished. The only independent predictor general population suicide rates in both sexes, on multiple regression analysis, was the Gini coefficient (a measure of income inequality). Conclusions:Income inequality may lead to low birth weight, undernourishment, underweight and under height because income inequality results in poor access to healthcare and nutrition. These adversities may increase child mortality rates and reduce life expectancy. Those surviving into adulthood in countries with greater adversity early in life may be at reduced risk of suicide because of selective survival of those at reduced risk of suicide due to constitutional or genetic factors and development of greater tolerance to hardship in adulthood.

Highlights

Suicide rates[1] and general population suicide rates[2] have been shown to be low in countries with low socio-economic status including those with greater income inequality
Given that suicide rates generally increase with age,[3] it is possible that in some countries with low elderly suicide rates fewer people will reach the age of increased risk of suicide due to reduced life expectancy
Crossnational data on suicide rates should be viewed cautiously because: data are not available from all countries[10,11]; the validity of this data is unclear;[11,12] the legal criteria for the proof of suicide vary between countries and between different regions within a country;[11,13] some countries, low-income countries, may have poor death registration facilities;[13] and, cultural and religious factors and stigma attached to suicide may lead to under-reporting of suicides.[11,14]

Summary

Introduction

Suicide rates[1] and general population suicide rates[2] have been shown to be low in countries with low socio-economic status including those with greater income inequality. Selective survival of those at reduced risk for suicide due to genetic or constitutional factors may further compound this trend. Furthemore, those who do may be at reduced risk of suicide in old age because they may be able to tolerate extra hardship in old age better due to exposure to life-long adversity.[4,5] For example, elderly African Americans and native Americans (Indians) have low suicide rates[6] and this has been attributed to a life-long history of socio-economic deprivation.[6] The relationship between exposure to adversity early in life and general population suicide rates has not be. A cross-national study examining the relationship between general population suicide rates and several proxy measures of adversity earlier in life was undertaken

Methods

Results

Discussion