The relationship between general population suicide rates and educational attainment: a cross-national study

Suicides are associated with both high and low levels of intelligence and educational attainment in both individual-level and aggregate-level studies. A cross-national study examining the relationship between general population suicide rates (y) and educational attainment (x) was undertaken with the a priori hypothesis that the relationship would be curvilinear and follow a U-shaped curve with the quadratic equation Y = A + BX + CX(2), where A, B, and C are constants. Data on suicide rates and the Education Index (a proxy measure of educational attainment) were ascertained from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Web sites, respectively. The main finding was the predicted curvilinear relationship between general population suicide rates, in both sexes, and the Education Index fit the above quadratic equation. Given the cross-sectional study design, a causal relationship cannot be assumed. The impact of educational attainment on general population suicide rates may occur through interaction with other factors, mediation of the effects of other factors, or by its effects being mediated by other factors, and require further study.