Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.14367/kjhep.2014.31.1.45

Differences between Korea and Other OECD Countries in the Relationships between Suicide and Socioeconomic Factors  

Kang, Eunjeong (Department of Health Administration and Management, Soonchunhyang University)
Lee, Suehyung (Health Policy Research Department, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs)
Publication Information
Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion / v.31, no.1, 2014 , pp. 45-56 More about this Journal
Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to examine how the relationship between socioeconomic factors at the macro level and suicide mortality rate of Korea was different from that of other OECD countries. Methods: We created OECD panel data of 29 OECD countries from 1985 to 2006 and analyzed the relationship between socioeconomic factors and suicide mortality rate for separate age and sex groups using a fixed-effect model. Economic factors included per capita GDP, per capita GDP growth rate, unemployment rate, and women's economic participation rate. Social factors included birth rate, alcohol consumption, and the percentage of population 65 and older. Results: Unemployment rate had a positive relationship with suicide in other countries but it had a negative relationship in some groups of Korea. Women's economic participation rate was both positively and negatively related with suicide in Korea but it did not relate to suicide in others. The negative relationship of birth rate and the positive relationship of alcohol consumption with suicide were evident in Korea, which were not found in other countries. The percentage of population 65 and older was negatively correlated in some female groups in Korea, while no significant relationship was found in other countries. Conclusions: Korea was substantially different from other OECD countries in the relationship between socioeconomic factors and suicide mortality rate.
Keywords
Suicide; Socioeconomic factors; OECD; Panel analysis;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Andreasson, S., Romelsjo, A., & Allebeck, P. (1991). Alcohol, social factors and mortality among young men. British Journal of Addiction, 86, 877-887.   DOI
2 Akechi, T., Iwasaki, M., Uchitomi, Y., & Tsugane, S. (2006). Alcohol consumption and suicide among middle-aged men in Japan. British Journal of Psychiatry, 188, 231-236.   DOI   ScienceOn
3 Burr, J. A., McCall, P., & Powell-Griner, E. (1994). Catholic religion, divorce and suicide: The mediating effect of divorce. Social Science Quarterly, 75, 300-318.
4 Lin, S-J. (2006). Unemployment and suicide: Panel data analysis. The Social Science Journal, 43, 727-732.   DOI   ScienceOn
5 Merton, R. (1957). Social theory and social structure. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
6 Morrell, S.. Taylor, R., Quine, S., & Kerr, C. (1993). Suicide and unemployment in Australia 1907-1990. Social Science and medicine, 36, 749-756.   DOI   ScienceOn
7 National Statistics Office. (2009). 2008 Statistics of Death Causes. Daejeon, Korea: Author.
8 National Statistics Office. (2012). 2011 Statistics of Death Causes. Daejeon, Korea: Author.
9 Platt, S. (1984). Unemployment and suicidal behaviour: a review of the literature. Social Science and Medicine, 19, 93-115.   DOI   ScienceOn
10 Noh, Y. H. (2006). Economic analysis of suicide: An approach using Korean Si-Do panel data. Economic Research, 54(3), 177-200.
11 Noh, Y. H. (2009). Does unemployment increase suicide rates? The OECD panel evidence. Journal of Economic Psychology, 30, 575-582.   DOI   ScienceOn
12 Pearson, J. L., & Conwell, Y. (1995). Suicide in late-life: Challenges and opportunities for research. International Psychogeriatrics, 7, 131-136.   DOI   ScienceOn
13 Skog, O. J. (1985). The collectivity of drinking cultures. A theory of the distribution of alcohol consumption. British Journal of Addiction, 80, 83-99.   DOI
14 Stack, S. (2000). Suicide: A 15-year review of the sociological literature, part ii: Modernization and social integration. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 30, 163-176.
15 Weyerer, S., & Wiedenmann, A. (1995). Economic factors and the rate of suicide in Germany between 1881 and 1989. Psychological Report, 76, 1331-1341.   DOI
16 StataCorp. (2009). Stata Statistical Software: Release 11. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP.
17 Suh, D. W. (2003). Current status of suicide in Korea and the role of Mental Health Center. Paper presented at the Second Workshop Community Mental Health Program Workers, Seoul, Korea.
18 Varnik, A., Wasserman, D., & Eklund, G. (1994). Suicides in the Baltic countries. Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine, 22, 166-169.   DOI
19 Yoo, G. Y., & Noh, Y. H. (2007). An analysis of determinants of suicide using national-level panel data. Korea Economic Research, 18, 59-78.
20 Wiedenmann, A., & Weyerer, S. (1994). Testing Durkheim's theory of suicide: Additional results from Germany. European Archives of Psychiatry Clinical Neuroscience, 244, 284-286.   DOI
21 World Health Organization. (2012). Public Health Action for the Prevention of Suicide: A Framework. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Orgnization.
22 Wu, W-C., & Cheng, H-P. (2010). Symmetric mortality and asymmetric suicide cycles. Social Science & Medicine, 70, 1974-1981.   DOI   ScienceOn
23 Zhang, J., Ma, J., Jia, C., Sun, J., Guo, X., Xu, A., & Li, W. (2010). Economic growth and suicide rate changes: A case in China from 1982 to 2005. European Psychiatry, 25, 159-163.
24 Klatsky, A. L., & Armstrong, M. A. (1993). Alcohol use, other traits, and risk of unnatural death: A prospective study. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 17, 1156-1162.   DOI   ScienceOn
25 Kim, HS. (2002). A study on the factors related to suicide ideation of the Korean elderly. Journal of the Korea Gerontological Society, 22(1), 159-172.
26 Durkeim, E. (1951). Suicide: A study in sociology. New York, NY: Free Press.
27 Gibbs, J. P., & Martin, W. T. (1964). Status integration and suicide: A sociological study. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon.
28 Koo, J., & Cox, W. M. (2008). An economic interpretation of suicide cycles in Japan. Contemporary Economic Policy, 26(1), 162-174.   DOI   ScienceOn
29 Landberg, J. (2009). Per capita alcohol consumption and suicide rates in the US, 950-2002. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviors, 34(4), 453-459.
30 Lester, D. (1993). Testing Durkheim's theory of suicide in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Europe. European Archives of Psychiatry Clinical Neuroscience, 243, 54-55.   DOI
31 Ross, R. K., Bernstein, L., Trent, L., Henderson, B. E., & Paganini-Hill, A. (1990). A prospective study of risk factors for traumatic deaths in a retirement community. Preventive Medicine, 19, 323-334.   DOI   ScienceOn
32 Chen, J., Choi, Y. J., & Sawada, Y. (2009). How is suicide different in Japan? Japan and the World Economy, 21, 140-150.   DOI   ScienceOn