Abstract
Suicide is one of the most important causes of death in the European Union Countries (EU) and is considered as a phenomenon which can be explained from a psychological, biological and social point of view. Objectives: This research will analyze the phenomenon of suicide in the European Union from a sociological point of view, with the aim of creating a multivariate model which explains such phenomenon. Method: Taking into account those data offered by the European Statistics Office (EUROSTAT), this study will try to explain, through the multiple linear regression model, suicide rates in European countries from demographic variables (number of inhabitants, divorce rate, ratio of women), economic variables (Gross Domestic Product (GDP), general government gross debt), social variables (government expenditure on social protection, population at risk of poverty) or educational variables (public expenditure on education and population with secondary education). Conclusions: A model to explain suicide rates in different countries was developed. This model was made up of two variables (percentage of people with secondary education and ratio of women), which account for 50% of the suicide rate.
Highlights
Suicide is regarded as a public health problem since, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) (2014), it is one of the first three causes of death in people 15 to 44 years old
This paper has analyzed the variables which could influence the suicide rate in the European Union countries, apart from developing a model which has been able to explain most of this social fact
Those theories and researches we have consulted about this topic stated that the female suicide rate was always lower than the male suicide rate (Murphy, 1998; Canneto & Sakinofsky, 1998; Giner, Medina, & Giner, 2014; Vega, Kishikawa, Ricanati, & Friedland, 2002; Martínez, 2015)
Summary
Suicide is regarded as a public health problem since, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) (2014), it is one of the first three causes of death in people 15 to 44 years old. In this research we will try to use the WHO definition (1969), which defines the act of suicide as the act in which one individual injures himself, regardless of his/her intentions and knowledge about his/her motives. This phenomenon will be measured by means of the suicide rate of each country. It is the result of the ratio between the total number of suicides and the overall population in each country This result is, multiplied by 100,000 (EUROSTAT, 2012; WHO and PAHO, 2014)
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