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September 2002, Vol 92, No. 9 | American Journal of Public Health 1518-1522
© 2002 American Public Health Association

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Suicide and Marital Status in the United States, 1991–1996: Is Widowhood a Risk Factor?

Jason B. Luoma, MA and Jane L. Pearson, PhD

Jason B. Luoma is with the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, and Jane L. Pearson is with the National Institute of Mental Health.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Jane Pearson, PhD, Division of Services and Intervention Research, National Institute of Mental Health, 6001 Executive Blvd, Room 7160, MSC 9635, Bethesda, MD 20892-9635 (e-mail: jp36u{at}nih.gov).

Objectives. This study examined whether marital status is associated with suicide rates among various age, sex, and racial groups, in particular with widowhood among young adults of both sexes.

Methods. US national suicide mortality data were compiled for the years 1991–1996, and suicide rates were broken down by race, 5-year age groups, sex, and marital status.

Results. Data on suicide rates indicated an approximately 17-fold increase among young widowed White men (aged 20–34 years), a 9-fold increase among young widowed African American men, and lesser increases among young widowed White women compared with their married counterparts.

Conclusions. National data suggest that as many as 1 in 400 White and African American widowed men aged 20–35 years will die by suicide in any given year (compared with 1 in 9000 married men in the general population).




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