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Related Experiment Videos

Age, birthdays, and suicide

I Wasserman1, S Stack

  • 1Department of Sociology, Eastern Michigan University.

The Journal of Social Psychology
|August 1, 1994
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study found no evidence that people are more likely to die around their birthday. Analyzing 3,948 suicides, the research did not replicate previous findings on birthday-related mortality risk.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Epidemiology
  • Forensic Science

Background:

  • Previous research suggested a potential link between suicide timing and proximity to an individual's birthday.
  • The Barraclough and Hughes (1987) study indicated a higher mortality rate near birthdays.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hypothesis that individuals are more likely to die by suicide around their birthday.
  • To replicate or refute the findings of Barraclough and Hughes (1987) using a larger dataset and seasonal controls.

Main Methods:

  • A retrospective analysis of 3,948 suicide cases was conducted.
  • Data were controlled for seasonal effects to isolate potential birthday-related patterns.
  • Statistical methods were employed to assess the significance of mortality risk near birthdays.

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Main Results:

  • The study did not find a statistically significant increase in suicide deaths occurring near an individual's birthday.
  • The results failed to replicate the findings reported by Barraclough and Hughes (1987).
  • No discernible pattern of increased mortality risk was observed in the period surrounding birthdays.

Conclusions:

  • The hypothesis that individuals are more likely to die around their birthday is not supported by this study.
  • The findings suggest that birthday proximity is not a significant risk factor for suicide.
  • Further research may be needed to explore other potential temporal patterns in suicide, but the birthday effect appears unsubstantiated.