TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Social distancing and influenza mortality in 1918 did not increase suicide rates in the United States
JO  - SSM - Population Health
A1  - Gaddy, Hampton Gray
SP  - e100944
EP  - e100944
VL  - 16
IS  - 
N2  - Recent research has suggested that the social distancing mandates introduced in the United States during the main waves of the 1918-20 influenza pandemic caused an increase in suicide rates. However, that finding relies on poor-quality, temporally mismatched data and has signs of omitted variable bias. Similarly, a long-standing finding that American suicide rates in 1918-20 were also boosted by the influenza mortality of the time has gone unquestioned in the literature, despite the original research admitting its risk of ecological fallacy. Using higher-powered mortality data, I cast doubt on both findings by analyzing the experiences of the pandemic in 43 of the largest American cities of the time. In line with some populations' experiences of COVID-19, I report tentative evidence that social distancing mandates during the 1918-20 pandemic may have been associated with decreased suicide rates. Larger, cross-national investigations of the effects of historical pandemics and social distancing mandates on mental health and suicide are needed.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2352-8273
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100944
ID  - ref1
ER  -