Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Volume 47, Issue 2, 2012, Pages 241-251

Attempted suicide among immigrants in European countries: An international perspective (Review)

Lipsicas C.B.* , Makinen I.H. , Apter A. , De Leo D. , Kerkhof A. , Lönnqvist J. , Michel K. , Renberg E.S. , Sayil I. , Schmidtke A. , Van Heeringen C. , Värnik A. , Wasserman D.
  • a National Prevention of Suicide and Mental Ill-Health (NASP), Karolinska Institute and Stockholm County Council's Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, WHO Lead Collaborating Centre of Mental Health Problems and Suicide Across Europe, Stockholm, Sweden
  • b Stockholm Centre on Health of Societies in Transition (SCOHOST), School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden
  • c Feinberg Child Study Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Schneider Children Medical Center, Petah-Tikva, Israel
  • d National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention, Life Promotion Clinic Mt Gravatt Campus, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
  • e Department of Clinical Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • f Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland
  • g University Psychiatric Services (UPD), Bern, Switzerland
  • h Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Psychiatry, Umea University, Umea, Sweden
  • i Ankara University Crisis Intervention Center, Ankara, Turkey
  • j Unit for Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Wuerzburg, Würzburg, Germany
  • k Unit for Suicide Research, University Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
  • l Estonian-Swedish Mental Health, Suicidology Institute, Tallinn, Estonia
  • m National Prevention of Suicide and Mental Ill-Health (NASP), Karolinska Institute and Stockholm County Council's Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, WHO Lead Collaborating Centre of Mental Health Problems and Suicide Across Europe, Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract

Purpose This study compares the frequencies of attempted suicide among immigrants and their hosts, between different immigrant groups, and between immigrants and their countries of origin. Methods The material, 27,048 persons, including 4,160 immigrants, was obtained from the WHO/EURO Multi- centre Study on Suicidal Behaviour, the largest available European database, and was collected in a standardised manner from 11 European centres in 1989-2003. Person-based suicide-attempt rates (SARs) were calculated for each group. The larger immigrant groups were studied at each centre and compared across centres. Completed- suicide rates of their countries of origin were compared to the SARs of the immigrant groups using rank correlations. Results 27 of 56 immigrant groups studied showed significantly higher, and only four groups significantly lower SARs than their hosts. Immigrant groups tended to have similar rates across different centres. Moreover, positive correlation between the immigrant SAR and the country-of-origin suicide rate was found. However, Chileans, Iranians, Moroccans, and Turks displayed high SARs as immigrants despite low suicide rates in the home countries. Conclusions The similarity of most immigrant groups' SARs across centres, and the correlation with suicidality in the countries of origin suggest a strong continuity that can be interpreted in either cultural or genetic terms. However, the generally higher rates among immigrants compared to host populations and the similarity of the rates of foreign- born and those immigrants who retained the citizenship of their country of origin point to difficulties in the acculturation and integration process. The positive correlation found between attempted and completed suicide rates suggests that the two are related, a fact with strong implications for suicide prevention. © Springer-Verlag 2010.

Author Keywords

Migration culture Suicide Europe Suicide attempt

Index Keywords

multicenter study psychological aspect clinical trial Europe human suicide attempt Internationality comparative study Suicide, Attempted international cooperation Health Surveys ethnology Humans Cross-Cultural Comparison Emigrants and Immigrants cultural factor Article migration world health organization Emigration and Immigration Suicide health survey
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84857060602&doi=10.1007%2fs00127-010-0336-6&partnerID=40&md5=5f75514af2e4f406bf494cc81e43fb83
DOI: 10.1007/s00127-010-0336-6
ISSN: 09337954
Cited by: 50
Original Language: English