CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 246Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesHomicide, Infanticide, and Child AbuseHealth disparities and outcomes

Poor social integration and suicide: Fact or artifact? A case-control study

DUBERSTEIN, P. R., CONWELL, Y., CONNER, K. R., EBERLY, S., EVINGER, J. S., CAINE, E. D.·2004·Psychological Medicine
DOI 10.1017/s0033291704002600
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Background. Sociological studies have shown that poor social integration confers suicide risk. It is not known whether poor integration amplifies risk after adjusting statistically for the effects of mental disorders and employment status. Method. A case-control design was used to compare 86 suicides and 86 living controls 50 years of age and older, matched on age, gender, race, and county of residence. Structured interviews were conducted with proxy respondents for suicides and controls. Social integration was defined in reference to two broad levels of analysis: family (e.g. sibship status, childrearing status) and social/community (e.g. social interaction, religious participation, community involvement). Results. Bivariate analyses showed that suicides were less likely to be married, have children, or live with family. They were less likely to engage in religious practice or community activities and they had lower levels of social interaction. A trimmed logistic regression model showed that marital status, social interaction and religious involvement were all associated with suicide even after statistical adjusting for the effects of affective disorder and employment status. Adding substance abuse to the model eliminated the effects of religious involvement. Conclusions. The association between family and social/community indicators of poor social integration and suicide is robust and largely independent of the presence of mental disorders. Findings could be used to enhance screening instruments and identify problem behaviors, such as low levels of social interaction, which could be targeted for intervention.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/s0033291704002600

Cites

27 of 27 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • One of these studies demonstrated that those who did participate in religious activities had a less active role in the congregation compared to their counterparts.

    “One of these [54] demonstrated that those who did participate in religious activities had a less active role in the congregation compared to their counterparts.”

    From A systematic review of social factors and suicidal behavior in older adulthood (2012) · cites this paper as [54]

  • Two U.S.-based studies focusing on persons aged 50 and above found that those who died by suicide less frequently took part in religious activities, compared to those who died of natural causes.

    “Two U.S.-based studies focusing on persons aged 50 and above found that those who died by suicide less frequently took part in religious activities, compared to those who died of natural causes [53,54].”

    From A systematic review of social factors and suicidal behavior in older adulthood (2012) · cites this paper as [54]

  • Spirituality and religiousness have been cited as protective factors against the development of depression and suicidality, a relationship that might be understood as a function of connectedness at a spiritual or instrumental level.

    “Spirituality and religiousness have been cited as protective factors against the development of the depression and suicidality (19, 45), a relationship that might also be understood as a function of connectedness at a spiritual or instrumental level”

    From Suicide in older adults (2011) · cites this paper as [19]

  • Psychological autopsy studies have shown that older adult suicides were significantly less likely to have had a confidante, more likely to live alone, and less likely to participate in community activities, be active in organizations, or have a hobby.

    “PA studies have shown that older adult suicides were significantly less likely to have had a confidante (41), more likely to live alone than their peers in the community (7), and less likely to participate in community activities (19), be active in organizations, or have a hobby (16).”

    From Suicide in older adults (2011) · cites this paper as [19]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
DUBERSTEIN, P. R., CONWELL, Y., CONNER, K. R., EBERLY, S., EVINGER, J. S., & CAINE, E. D.
Affiliations
University of Rochester Medicine (US)
ORCID
Venue
Psychological Medicine
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2004-10
Volume
34
Issue
7
Pages
1331-1337
ISSN
  • 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-8978
DOI
10.1017/s0033291704002600
OpenAlex
W2066152553
Cited by
246
References
27
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 19
FWCI
8.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 20 d)
Locations
  • Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • U.S. Public Health Service
  • National Institute of Mental Health (K24MH001759, R01MH054682, R01MH060285)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
Keywords
suicide, social integration, marital status, social interaction, religious participation, community participation, family structure, mood disorders, substance abuse, employment status, older adults, suicide risk factors
MeSH terms
Suicide Prevention, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Mental Disorders, Family, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Middle Aged, Personality Assessment, Religion and Psychology, Risk Factors, Social Adjustment, Social Identification, Social Isolation, Social Support, Socioeconomic Factors, Statistics as Topic, Suicide, Case-Control Studies, Substance-Related Disorders

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review