title: An ecological approach to explain suicide by self-immolation among women in rural Iran.
abstract: Suicide by self-immolation, or lighting oneself on fire, is the most common method of suicide used among women in rural Iran. Understanding the underlying mechanisms that may lead women to commit suicide by self-immolation is necessary for the development of empirically-supported prevention programs. Currently, no integrative approach to the risk factors for self-immolation among women in rural areas, or the interactions between them, is available. Based in ecology theory, we review the risk factors for suicide by self-immolation and present them in terms of ecological theory in an attempt to offer an integrative approach for prevention of self-immolation among women in rural Iran.  We conclude by recommending a multifaceted approach to prevention of self-immolation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Farabi Hospital, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. la_rezaie@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Leeba
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rezaie
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Schwebel
mesh_terms: D004463:Ecology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*