TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Suicide behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic: a meta-analysis of 54 studies
JO  - Psychiatry research
A1  - Dubé, Justin P.
A1  - Smith, Martin M.
A1  - Sherry, Simon B.
A1  - Hewitt, Paul L.
A1  - Stewart, Sherry H.
SP  - 113998
EP  - 113998
VL  - 301
IS  - 
N2  - COVID-19, and efforts to mitigate its spread, are creating extensive mental health problems. Experts have speculated the mental, economic, behavioral, and psychosocial problems linked to the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to a rise in suicide behavior. However, a quantitative synthesis is needed to reach an overall conclusion regarding the pandemic-suicide link. In the most comprehensive test of the COVID-19-suicidality link to date, we meta-analyzed data from 308,596 participants across 54 studies. Our results suggested increased event rates for suicide ideation (10.81%), suicide attempts (4.68%), and self-harm (9.63%) during the COVID-19 pandemic when considered against event rates from pre-pandemic studies. Moderation analysis indicated younger people, women, and individuals from democratic countries are most susceptible to suicide ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers and helping professionals are advised that suicide behaviors are alarmingly common during the COVID-19 pandemic and vary based upon age, gender, and geopolitics. Strong protections from governments (e.g., implementing best practices in suicide prevention) are urgently needed to reduce suicide behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0165-1781
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113998
ID  - ref1
ER  -