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Economic growth and suicide rate changes: A case in China from 1982 to 2005

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

J. Zhang ,
J. Ma ,
C. Jia ,
J. Sun ,
X. Guo ,
A. Xu  and
W. Li
J. Zhang
Affiliation:
Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China State University of New York College, Buffalo, USA
J. Ma
Affiliation:
Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, China
C. Jia*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Shandong University, Jinan250012, Shandong, China
J. Sun
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
X. Guo
Affiliation:
Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, China
A. Xu
Affiliation:
Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, China
W. Li
Affiliation:
Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, China
*
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 531 88382141. E-mail address: jiachongqi@sdu.edu.cn (C. Jia).
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Abstract

Objectives

It is to estimate the trend of suicide rate changes during the past three decades in China and try to identify its social and economic correlates.

Methods

Official data of suicide rates and economic indexes during 1982–2005 from Shandong Province of China were analyzed. The suicide data were categorized for the rural / urban location and gender, and the economic indexes include GDP, GDP per capita, rural income, and urban income, all adjusted for inflation.

Results

We found a significant increase of economic development and decrease of suicide rates over the past decades under study. The suicide rate decrease is correlated with the tremendous growth of economy.

Conclusion

The unusual decrease of Chinese suicide rates in the past decades is accounted for within the Chinese cultural contexts and maybe by the Strain Theory of Suicide.

Keywords

Suicide rateEconomic growthChinaCultureStrain Theory of suicide
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , April 2010 , pp. 159 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2009

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