The authors used national panel data at a provincial level to investigate the relationship between suicide rates & socioeconomic factors in Italy. The role of family, drug & alcohol consumption, social conformism, & population density are the main factors in explaining the suicide rate in Italy. The authors also checked for differences in the suicide determinants between southern & northern provinces. The findings show that the number & size of families as well as alcohol or drug abuse play a key role in the northern provinces while density & social conformism appear to be the main factors in the south. (11 refs.) JA