title: The Great Recession, unemployment and suicide.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  How have suicide rates responded to the marked increase in unemployment spurred by the Great Recession? Our paper puts this issue into a wider perspective by assessing (1) whether the unemployment-suicide link is modified by the degree of unemployment protection, and (2) whether the effect on suicide of the present crisis differs from the effects of previous economic downturns.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analysed the unemployment-suicide link using time-series data for 30 countries spanning the period 1960-2012. Separate fixed-effects models were estimated for each of five welfare state regimes with different levels of unemployment protection (Eastern, Southern, Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian and Scandinavian). We included an interaction term to capture the possible excess effect of unemployment during the Great Recession.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The largest unemployment increases occurred in the welfare state regimes with the least generous unemployment protection. The unemployment effect on male suicides was statistically significant in all welfare regimes, except the Scandinavian one. The effect on female suicides was significant only in the eastern European country group. There was a significant gradient in the effects, being stronger the less generous the unemployment protection. The interaction term capturing the possible excess effect of unemployment during the financial crisis was not significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that the more generous the unemployment protection the weaker the detrimental impact on suicide of the increasing unemployment during the Great Recession.
authors.affiliation: Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Thor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Norström
authors.affiliation: Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grönqvist
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D057172:Economic Recession; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011056:Political Systems; D065840:Protective Factors; D011632:Public Assistance / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013405:Suicide / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology / Q000639:trends*; D014478:Unemployment / Q000523:psychology / Q000639:trends*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: EPIDEMIOLOGY; SUICIDE; UNEMPLOYMENT