A Re-Examination of Seasonal Variation in Suicide in Australia and New Zealand

A chi-square test & a harmonic analysis were used to detect the seasonality of suicide data from Australia & New Zealand from 1981-1993. The reduced amplitude & a smaller proportion of variance accounted for by seasonality suggested the seasonal effect on suicide is greatly diminished. A biseasonal distribution of female suicides was not found. Results suggest that changes in social conditions & roles lessened the effects of climatic & environmental factors on the seasonality of suicide.