Suicide and Unemployment in Italy: a Replication Study (IN: Suicidal Behaviour in Europe: Recent Research Findings, edited by P Crepet et al)

This paper replicates and extends a previous investigation of suicide and unemployment in Italy by considering a slightly different time period (1979-88) and using age-standardized rates for both major variables. The original findings were largely confirmed. However, change in the suicide rates across 18 geographical regions of Italy was unrelated to change in the unemployment rate. Comparison of suicide rates among the employed and unemployed revealed an excess of suicide among the latter in each year, with an overall mean risk of 6. The authors suggest further individual level studies using retrospective case-control methods. (28 refs)