title: Attempted suicide among immigrants in European countries: an international perspective.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study compares the frequencies of attempted suicide among immigrants and their hosts, between different immigrant groups, and between immigrants and their countries of origin.
  
  
  METHODS
  The material, 27,048 persons, including 4,160 immigrants, was obtained from the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behaviour, the largest available European database, and was collected in a standardised manner from 11 European centres in 1989-2003. Person-based suicide-attempt rates (SARs) were calculated for each group. The larger immigrant groups were studied at each centre and compared across centres. Completed-suicide rates of their countries of origin were compared to the SARs of the immigrant groups using rank correlations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  27 of 56 immigrant groups studied showed significantly higher, and only four groups significantly lower SARs than their hosts. Immigrant groups tended to have similar rates across different centres. Moreover, positive correlation between the immigrant SAR and the country-of-origin suicide rate was found. However, Chileans, Iranians, Moroccans, and Turks displayed high SARs as immigrants despite low suicide rates in the home countries.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The similarity of most immigrant groups' SARs across centres, and the correlation with suicidality in the countries of origin suggest a strong continuity that can be interpreted in either cultural or genetic terms. However, the generally higher rates among immigrants compared to host populations and the similarity of the rates of foreign-born and those immigrants who retained the citizenship of their country of origin point to difficulties in the acculturation and integration process. The positive correlation found between attempted and completed suicide rates suggests that the two are related, a fact with strong implications for suicide prevention.
authors.affiliation: National Prevention of Suicide and Mental Ill-Health (NASP) at Karolinska Institute and Stockholm County Council's Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, WHO Lead Collaborating Centre of Mental Health Problems and Suicide across Europe, Stockholm, Sweden. b_cendrine@bezeqint.net
authors.forename: Cendrine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bursztein Lipsicas
authors.forename: Ilkka Henrik
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Mäkinen
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Apter
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Leo
authors.forename: Ad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kerkhof
authors.forename: Jouko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lönnqvist
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: Ellinor
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salander Renberg
authors.forename: Isik
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sayil
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmidtke
authors.forename: Cornelis
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van Heeringen
authors.forename: Airi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Värnik
authors.forename: Danuta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wasserman
mesh_terms: D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*; D014944:World Health Organization