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University of
California, Riverside, USA
Correspondence to: Augustine J Kposowa, Department of Sociology, 1214 Watkins Hall, University of California, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Accepted for publication 12 August 1999
OBJECTIVES
The purpose
of the study was to examine the effect of marital status on the risk of
suicide, using a large nationally representative sample. A related
objective was to investigate the association between marital status and
suicide by sex.
METHODSCox
proportional hazards regression models were applied to data from the
National Longitudinal Mortality Study, based on the 1979-1989 follow
up. In estimating the effect of marital status, adjustments were made
for age, sex, race, education, family income, and region of residence.
RESULTSFor the entire
sample, higher risks of suicide were found in divorced than in married
persons. Divorced and separated persons were over twice as likely to
commit suicide as married persons (RR=2.08, 95% confidence intervals
(95% CI) 1.58, 2.72). Being single or widowed had no significant
effect on suicide risk. When data were stratified by sex, it was
observed that the risk of suicide among divorced men was over twice
that of married men (RR=2.38, CI 1.77, 3.20). Among women, however,
there were no statistically significant differentials in the risk of
suicide by marital status categories.
CONCLUSIONSMarital
status, especially divorce, has strong net effect on mortality from
suicide, but only among men. The study showed that in epidemiological
research on suicide, more accurate results would be obtained if samples
are stratified on the basis of key demographic or social
characteristics. The study further observed that failure to control for
relevant socioeconomic variables or combining men and women in the same
models could produce misleading results.
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