Citation

Kposowa AJ, Aly Ezzat D, Breault K. Int. J. Women. Health 2019; 11: 569-575.

Affiliation

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Dove Press)

DOI

10.2147/IJWH.S216504

PMID

31807084

PMCID

PMC6839574

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of gender and employment on suicide with the use of expanded unemployment statuses as covariates.

METHODS: Data were obtained from release 5 of the National Longitudinal Mortality Study, a prospective study of deaths in the United States. Proportional hazards regression models were fitted to the data based on follow-up from 1990 to 2011.

RESULTS: Unemployment was significantly associated with suicide (ARR=1.628, 95% CI=1.356, 1.954), and men had suicide deaths that were five times greater than women (ARR=5.104, 95% CI=4.565, 5.707), however when the sample was stratified by sex, the impact of unemployment on suicide was much higher among women (ARR=2.988, 95% CI=2.045, 4.366) than among men (ARR=1.393, 95% CI=1.131, 1.717).

CONCLUSION: Contrary to many findings and gender assumptions, unemployed women in the U.S. have higher deaths from suicide than unemployed men.

DISCUSSION focused on explanations for gender disparities in unemployment.

© 2019 Kposowa et al.

Language: en

Keywords

gender; suicide; unemployment