Citation

Mezuk B, Larkin GL, Prescott MR, Tracy M, Vlahov D, Tardiff K, Galea S. J. Trauma. Stress 2009; 22(6): 481-488.

Affiliation

Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Medicine, Richmond, VA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.20473

PMID

19902463

Abstract

The authors investigated the relationship between the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and suicide risk in New York City from 1990 to 2006. The average monthly suicide rate over the study period was 0.56 per 100,000 people. The monthly rate after September 2001 was 0.11 per 100,000 people lower as compared to the rate in the period before. However, the rate of change in suicide was not significantly different before and after the disaster, and regression discontinuity analysis indicated no change at this date. There was no net change in the suicide rate in New York City attributable to this disaster, suggesting that factors other than exposure to traumatic events (e.g., cultural norms, availability of lethal methods) may be key drivers of suicide risk in this context.

Language: en