Options
Social capital and suicide in 11 European countries: an ecological analysis
Date Issued
2009-11
Date Available
2014-08-22T15:02:24Z
Abstract
Background: 'Social capital' refers to the existence of voluntary community networks and relationships based on trust, and the use of these networks and relationships to enable positive social action. Social capital is positively associated with selected indices of mental health. Methods: We performed an ecological investigation of the relationship between social trust (as one component of social capital) and national suicide rates in 11 European countries (n=22,227). Results: There was an inverse relationship between social trust and national suicide rates (i.e. the higher the social trust, the lower was the suicide rate), after controlling for gender, age, marriage rates, standardised income and reported sadness.
Conclusions: Social capital may have a protective effect against suicide at the national level. Multi-level analysis, taking into account both group-level and individual-level variables, would help clarify this relationship further and guide appropriate interventions at both the group and individual levels.
Sponsorship
European Science Foundation
Other Sponsorship
European Commission’s 5th and 6th Framework
Programmes
Type of Material
Journal Article
Publisher
D. Steinkopff-Verlag (Springer)
Journal
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Volume
44
Issue
11
Start Page
971
End Page
977
Copyright (Published Version)
2009 Springer
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
File(s)
Owning collection
Scopus© citations
72
Acquisition Date
Apr 17, 2024
Apr 17, 2024
Views
1687
Last Month
1
1
Acquisition Date
Apr 17, 2024
Apr 17, 2024
Downloads
843
Last Week
3
3
Last Month
13
13
Acquisition Date
Apr 17, 2024
Apr 17, 2024