Citation

Pridemore WA, Trahan A, Chamlin MB. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2009; 39(6): 659-670.

Affiliation

Department of Criminal Justice at Indiana University.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1521/suli.2009.39.6.659

PMID

20121329

Abstract

There is substantial evidence of detrimental psychological sequelae following disasters, including terrorist attacks. The effect of these events on extreme responses such as suicide, however, is unclear. We tested competing hypotheses about such effects by employing autoregressive integrated moving average techniques to model the impact of September 11 and the Oklahoma City bombing on monthly suicide counts at the local, state, and national level. Unlike prior studies that provided conflicting evidence, rigorous time series techniques revealed no support for an increase or decrease in suicides following these events. We conclude that while terrorist attacks produce subsequent psychological morbidity and may affect self and collective efficacy well beyond their immediate impact, these effects are not strong enough to influence levels of suicide mortality.

Language: en