Epidemiology Of Suicidal Behavior

Gender. One of the most consistent findings with regards to the epidemiology of suicidal behavior is its gender distribution. Since the 1990s, the examination of suicide data in the United States has consistently shown the ratio of male to female completed suicides is approximately three to one (Rogers, 1990). Recent data revealed that the ratio of male to female suicide is four to one (AFSP, 2014). In general, males are more likely to commit suicide than females (CDC, 2015), even though females are more likely to experience many risk factors that increase suicide risk, for instance, females are more likely as males to suffer from depressive.

There is a distinctive effect on gender differences and the choice of suicide method (Kposowa

Most of the suicide data presented race and ethnicity are largely descriptive. No explanation is generally given for similarities and differences between race and ethnicity in the choice of suicide method. However, the inclusion of race and ethnicity can alter the presentation of suicide rates in different suicide methods. In 1985, Alexander, Massey, Gibbs, and Altekruse (1985) reported a decline in the overall firearm fatality rate, including cases that were reported as accidental, homicidal, suicidal, or undetermined in South Carolina from 1970 to 1978. They attributed the decline to decrease in the non-white rate of firearm fatalities, especially in black individuals. However, this decline was not observed in other

The lowest suicide rates are observed among Asians and Pacific Islanders, African Americans, and Hispanics (AFSP, 2015, Callanan & Davis, 2012; Liu et al., 2015). More than three-quarters of individuals who completed firearm suicide are non-Hispanic Whites (Kposowa, 2013; Streib et al., 2007), followed by African American/Black (11.3%), Hispanic (4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%), and Native American (0.04%) (Kposowa, 2013). Interestingly, using the mortality detail file of the United States Public Health Service from 1990, Stack and Wasserman (2005) conclude that firearm suicide is the dominant mode of suicide method for both Whites and African Americans. They report that African Americans are twice as likely as Whites to choose violent methods of suicide. They confer that even though African Americans are less likely to own firearms, they are predisposed toward violence behaviors. Not only that African Americans may experience greater economic and social stress, they are more likely than Whites to have been shot at or exposed to homicidal violence. The exposure to the high incidence of violence may cause them to be more desensitized to violence methods and more likely to externalize