Investigating the relationship among seasonality, socioeconomic risk factors and suicides in Greece

Globally, there has been growing evidence pointing to a relationship among suicides, seasonality and socioeconomic factors. This study aims at investigating the seasonal suicide patterns, the effect of gender on these patterns, the trend of these patterns and whether the suicides are associated with economic and social risk factors. The objects of the current study have been the seasonal suicide patterns in Greece during 1980-2018 (39 years), as well as their interrelation with a variety of socioeconomic risk factors, however for a shorter period (21 years) due to unavailability of aggregated data provided by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT). The Walter-Elwood test was applied in order to investigate seasonality. Poisson regression models were applied to investigate the relationship amongst seasonality, socioeconomic risk factors and monthly suicides. The best variable subset was selected according to the leaps and bounds algorithm. A total of 15,692 suicides were recorded. In the total sample, as well as, in men, a peak was documented in May - June, whereas females mostly peaked in July. Among the risk factors under investigation, an increase in marriage rates appeared to have significantly lowered the number of suicides, while a rise in unemployment rates exhibited a statistically non-significant increase in suicides.. The findings of the study suggest distinct sex-oriented seasonal patterns and a protective effect of marriage.