Tintypographer
I am done as of 4-21-2023. Somewhere I am no more
- Apr 29, 2020
- 470
some questions came up yesterday regarding suicide and economic conditions (joblessness, high cost of living, homelessness, etc.) I did not find many things in the medical literature directly linking economic status and suicide. I did find a lot of research summarizing mental illness and economic status.
A fairly detailed article in American Journal or orthopsychiatry showed a strong correlation between mental illness and socioeconomic status.
The article defines socioeconomic status below:
Socioeconomic status (SES). SES was measured on the basis of
community income, education, and occupational status.
Data pertinent to each of these three areas were extracted
from the STF-3C files for each of the state's ZIP codes, and
these include (a) median household income, (b) median
years of education, and (c) mean occupational status. This
latter figure was computed for each ZIP code with empiri-
cally derived status ratings for major occupational groups
(Davis, Smith, Hodge, Nakao, & Treas, 1991). These status
ratings were then used to compute a weighted average using
the proportion of persons age 15 and over who were em-
ployed in each of the major occupational groups as the
weights—that is, (Status % Occupation A) -
(Status
% Occupation B). These occupational categories consisted
of the following: (a) executive/manageral positions, (b)
professional services, (c) other services, (d) sales, (e) farm-
ing, (f) construction, and (g) production. Although the raw
scores for income, education, and occupation were used in
the LISREL models (which are based on covariances rather
than standardized correlations), separate versions were also
standardized, and an unweighted mean of the z scores was
used for descriptive purposes. For an examination of SES on
the individual level, a proxy variable— employment status
(1 yes, 0 no)—was computed for adults ages 18 – 65
years on the basis of either the presence of an employer ZIP
code in the record or the receipt of commercial medical
insurance that was not supported by any governmental
program such as Medicaid or Medicare.
The plot above taken from the article can loosely be described as the percentage of people in the population who have a mental disease on the y axis vs the socioeconomic health (money, housing, job, career, family conditions etc) on the x axis where there are statistically higher mental health problems with lower socioeconomic index. This was taken from an analysis of Massachusetts in the USA.
This doesn't say that lower socioeconomic status causes mental illness anymore than it says that mental illness causes lower socioeconomic status. There are many factors including reporting, standards of care and awareness that fall into the uncertainty.
Currently in my searches there are not many credible studies that review socioeconomic status, income levels, debt, or other financial related metrics against suicide which sounds like a worthy study.
A fairly detailed article in American Journal or orthopsychiatry showed a strong correlation between mental illness and socioeconomic status.
The article defines socioeconomic status below:
Socioeconomic status (SES). SES was measured on the basis of
community income, education, and occupational status.
Data pertinent to each of these three areas were extracted
from the STF-3C files for each of the state's ZIP codes, and
these include (a) median household income, (b) median
years of education, and (c) mean occupational status. This
latter figure was computed for each ZIP code with empiri-
cally derived status ratings for major occupational groups
(Davis, Smith, Hodge, Nakao, & Treas, 1991). These status
ratings were then used to compute a weighted average using
the proportion of persons age 15 and over who were em-
ployed in each of the major occupational groups as the
weights—that is, (Status % Occupation A) -
(Status
% Occupation B). These occupational categories consisted
of the following: (a) executive/manageral positions, (b)
professional services, (c) other services, (d) sales, (e) farm-
ing, (f) construction, and (g) production. Although the raw
scores for income, education, and occupation were used in
the LISREL models (which are based on covariances rather
than standardized correlations), separate versions were also
standardized, and an unweighted mean of the z scores was
used for descriptive purposes. For an examination of SES on
the individual level, a proxy variable— employment status
(1 yes, 0 no)—was computed for adults ages 18 – 65
years on the basis of either the presence of an employer ZIP
code in the record or the receipt of commercial medical
insurance that was not supported by any governmental
program such as Medicaid or Medicare.
The plot above taken from the article can loosely be described as the percentage of people in the population who have a mental disease on the y axis vs the socioeconomic health (money, housing, job, career, family conditions etc) on the x axis where there are statistically higher mental health problems with lower socioeconomic index. This was taken from an analysis of Massachusetts in the USA.
This doesn't say that lower socioeconomic status causes mental illness anymore than it says that mental illness causes lower socioeconomic status. There are many factors including reporting, standards of care and awareness that fall into the uncertainty.
Currently in my searches there are not many credible studies that review socioeconomic status, income levels, debt, or other financial related metrics against suicide which sounds like a worthy study.
