title: No evidence of suicide increase following terrorist attacks in the United States: an interrupted time-series analysis of September 11 and Oklahoma City.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Criminal Justice, Indiana University, 302 Sycamore Hall, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. wpridemo@indiana.edu
authors.forename: William Alex
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Pridemore
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trahan
authors.forename: Mitchell B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Chamlin
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009825:Oklahoma; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology; D013405:Suicide / Q000639:trends*; D023481:Terrorism / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States