Social Correlates of Suicide by Age: Media Impacts (IN: Life Span Perspectives of Suicide: Time-Lines in the Suicide Process, ed. by A A Leenaars)

This study analyzes the social correlates of suicide by broad age groups: young, middle-aged, & elderly. The author uses the shared life circumstances (e.g. divorce, unemployment) of each group to predict age-group propensities to imitate suicide. A statistical model is tested, & a link between publicized suicide stories & increased suicide rates among the elderly is found. A review of research on imitative suicide is also included. (VM)