Social Relationships and Suicide in Comparative Perspective: A New Look at Durkheim’s Old Inquiry

Suicide is not only linked to individuals’ psychological distress, but more fundamentally, it is a product of social and cultural conditions. Although previous research starting from Durkheim’s theory on solidarity generally suggests a negative association between social integration and suicide rates, few studies have explored the subject across different regions of the world. This study demonstrates how various social relationships are related to the prevalence of suicide differently by region. It uses multilevel regression models to analyze data from 42 countries that represent East Asia, Latin America, English-speaking countries, and Europe. The results show that East Europe has the highest suicide rates, followed by East Asia, North Europe, West Europe, North America, South Europe, and then Latin America. Although in general more integrated social relationships are associated with lower suicide rates, social relationships carry unequal weights in different regions. For example, marital dissolution predicts significantly higher suicide rates in East Asia and South Europe. Religious participation is linked to less suicide in Latin America but more suicide in East Asia and West Europe. The findings indicate that similar forms of social relationships may function dissimilarly in different cultural and institutional settings.