The DOI matches its Crossref record; 30 of the 30 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Modelling suicide and unemployment: a longitudinal analysis covering 63 countries, 2000–11
Abstract
Background As with previous economic downturns, there has been debate about an association between the 2008 economic crisis, rising unemployment, and suicide. Unemployment directly affects individuals' health and, unsurprisingly, studies have proposed an association between unemployment and suicide. However, a statistical model examining the relationship between unemployment and suicide by considering specific time trends among age-sex-country subgroups over wider world regions is still lacking. We aimed to enhance knowledge of the specific effect of unemployment on suicide by analysing global public data classified according to world regions.Methods We retrospectively analysed public data for suicide, population, and economy from the WHO mortality database and the International Monetary Fund's world economic outlook database from 2000 to 2011. We selected 63 countries based on sample size and completeness of the respective data and extracted the information about four age groups and sex. To check stability of findings, we conducted an overall random coefficient model including all study countries and four additional models, each covering a different world region.Findings Despite differences in the four world regions, the overall model, adjusted for the unemployment rate, showed that the annual relative risk of suicide decreased by 1·1% (95% CI 0·8-1·4) per year between 2000 and 2011. The best and most stable final model indicated that a higher suicide rate preceded a rise in unemployment (lagged by 6 months) and that the effect was non-linear with higher effects for lower baseline unemployment rates. In all world regions, the relative risk of suicide associated with unemployment was elevated by about 20-30% during the study period. Overall, 41,148 (95% CI 39,552-42,744) suicides were associated with unemployment in 2007 and 46,131 (44,292-47,970) in 2009, indicating 4983 excess suicides since the economic crisis in 2008.Interpretation Suicides associated with unemployment totalled a nine-fold higher number of deaths than excess suicides attributed to the most recent economic crisis. Prevention strategies focused on the unemployed and on employment and its conditions are necessary not only in difficult times but also in times of stable economy.Funding University of Zurich.
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“past economic recessions have witnessed increased rates of common mental disorders and suicidal behavior in other global regions [44, 50].”
From Psychiatric symptoms, risk, and protective factors among university students in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic in China (2021) · cites this paper as [44]
In the citing paper
“More recently, studies found evidence that there was an upturn in suicide rates during the financial crisis of 2007/2008 set against this overall decline.”
From The global burden of injury: incidence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years and time trends from the Global Burden of Disease study 2013 (2016) · cites this paper as [39]
In the citing paper
“In that study, Nordt et al. estimated that one in five suicides might be attributable to unemployment for the period of 2000–2011 within sixty-three countries sampled [8].”
From Supported employment: Meta-analysis and review of randomized controlled trials of individual placement and support (2019) · cites this paper as [8]
Citations
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Suicide Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review
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Cannabidiol enhances anandamide signaling and alleviates psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia
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Impact of 2008 global economic crisis on suicide: time trend study in 54 countries.
Chang, S.-S., Stuckler, D., Yip, P., & Gunnell, D. (2013) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.f5239 · Cited by 799
Work stress precipitates depression and anxiety in young, working women and men
MELCHIOR, M., CASPI, A., MILNE, B. J., DANESE, A., POULTON, R., & MOFFITT, T. E. (2007) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291707000414 · Cited by 691
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Effects of the 2008 recession on health: a first look at European data
Stückler, D., Basu, S., Suhrcke, M., Coutts, A. P., & McKee, M. (2011) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(11)61079-9 · Cited by 480
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Haagsma, J. A., Graetz, N., Bolliger, I., Naghavi, M., Higashi, H., Mullany, E. C., Abera, S. F., Abraham, J. P., Adofo, K., Alsharif, U., et al. (2016) · Injury Prevention · doi:10.1136/injuryprev-2015-041616 · Cited by 1,302
COVID-19, unemployment, and suicide
Kawohl, W., & Nordt, C. (2020) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30141-3 · Cited by 714
Self-citationAnnual Research Review: A meta‐analytic review of worldwide suicide rates in adolescents
Glenn, C. R., Kleiman, E. M., Kellerman, J., Pollak, O., Cha, C. B., Esposito, E. C., Porter, A. C., Wyman, P. A., & Boatman, A. E. (2020) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.13106 · Cited by 391
Suicide and poverty in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review
Iemmi, V., Bantjes, J., Coast, E., Channer, K., Leone, T., McDaid, D., Palfreyman, A., Stephens, B., & Lund, C. (2016) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(16)30066-9 · Cited by 319
‘The dual pandemic’ of suicide and COVID-19: A biopsychosocial narrative of risks and prevention
Banerjee, D., Rao, K. S. J., & Rao, T. S. (2020) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113577 · Cited by 260
Metadata
- Authors
- Nordt, C., Warnke, I., Seifritz, E., & Kawohl, W.
- Affiliations
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Nordt, Carlos
- Venue
- The Lancet Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-03
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 239-245
- ISSN
- 2215-0366 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2099954959
- Cited by
- 322
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 60 · 2020: 46 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 13
- FWCI
- 34.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Lancet Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Employment and Welfare Studies
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Unemployment and Economic Growth
- Keywords
- suicide, unemployment, 2008 financial crisis, economic downturn, suicide trends, age and sex differences, world regions, suicide prevention
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Americas, Europe, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Risk, Suicide, Unemployment, Models, Statistical, Databases, Factual, Young Adult, Economic Recession
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