Does Adversity Early in Life Affect General Population Suicide Rates? A Cross-National Study

The relationship between general population suicide rates & 4 proxy measures of adversity earlier in life was examined using data from the World Health Organization & the United Nations data banks. General population suicide rates were negatively correlated with the percentage of children under the age of 5 years who were underweight, the percentage of children under the age of 5 years who were underheight, the percentage of infants who were low birth weight babies, & the percentage of the general population that was undernourished. The only independent predictor, on multiple regression analysis, was the Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality. (16 refs.) JA

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