Female Suicides and Alcohol Consumption During Perestroika in the Former USSR

Data regarding alcohol consumption & female mortality were analyzed for 3 Slavic, 3 Baltic & 2 Central Asian republics. Regression analyses with alcohol consumption as the independent variable & female suicide rates & female violent death rates as dependent variables showed that suicide & alcohol consumption, & violent death & alcohol consumption, were positively correlated. However, alcohol had a lower explanatory value for female suicide & violent deaths compared with males. (25 refs.)