Journal
SOCIAL PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY
Volume 44, Issue 11, Pages 971-977Publisher
DR DIETRICH STEINKOPFF VERLAG
DOI: 10.1007/s00127-009-0018-4
Keywords
Suicide; Social medicine; Community networks; Social capital
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
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.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available