TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2002//
TI  - Neurotic symptoms, stress, or deprivation: which is most closely associated with incidence of suicide? An ecological study of English Health Authorities
JO  - Psychological medicine
A1  - Bartlett, C. J.
A1  - Gunnell, David
A1  - Harrison, G.
A1  - Moore, Linda
SP  - 1131
EP  - 1136
VL  - 32
IS  - 6
N2  - BACKGROUND: Suicide rates, anxiety/depression scores and stress scores are routinely used as mental health indicators in populations, but their inter-relationships have not been explored. Our aim was to explore the association of suicide rates with anxiety/depression and stress scores, while also referring to deprivation scores, which are known to be linked to suicide rates. METHODS: We undertook an ecological analysis of English Health Authorities, regressing suicide rates (1993-1994), on General Health Questionnaire and stress scores (1994), and also on Jarman deprivation scores (1991). RESULTS: Overall, Jarman deprivation score was a better predictor of suicide rate than the psychological distress measures. There were no statistically significant associations between suicide rates and GHQ scores, although there was a weak association between suicide rate and mean stress level in women. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide rates, though important in themselves, are not reliable indicators of the levels of neurotic symptoms or stress in populations. Suicide rates are more strongly associated with area-based measures of social disadvantage, though a possible stress-suicide relationship in women could be investigated further.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0033-2917
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -