Does long-term economic adversity affect elderly suicide rates? A cross-national comparison

Abstract

Elderly suicide rates have been shown to be low in countries with low socioeconomic status, including those with greater income inequality and those with reduced life expectancy (Shah et al., 2007). It is therefore possible in such countries that people at risk of suicide in old age do not reach the age of increased risk. Moreover, selective survival of those at reduced risk for suicide due to genetic or constitutional factors may further compound this trend. Furthemore, those who do survive may be at reduced risk of suicide in old age because they may be better able to tolerate extra hardship in old age due to exposure to life-long adversity (Seiden, 1981; Lindesay, 1991). For example, elderly African Americans and native Americans (Indians) have low suicide rates (McIntosh, 1984) and this has been attributed to a life-long history of socioeconomic deprivation (McIntosh, 1984). Therefore, we examined the relationship between elderly suicide rates and long-term measures of economic adversity, including the average annual growth rate and average annual change in the consumer price index over a long period.