Rising homicide rates at the county level are associated with increased suicide rates the following year, according to a study published July 29 in Social Science & Medicine.
Daniel C. Semenza, Ph.D., of Rutgers University, and colleagues examined data from 1968 to 2019 across U.S. counties, using 162,472 county-year observations from the CDC WONDER database and the National Historical Geographic Information System. They analyzed trends by race, firearm involvement, and urban versus rural settings.
The study found that each one-unit increase in homicide rates predicted a 0.493-unit increase in suicide rates a year later, especially in cases involving firearms. The correlation was strongest among White populations and in rural areas.
“Interpersonal and self-directed violence are interconnected and should be treated as such,” Semenza stated. “Local violence doesn’t only harm the victims — it destabilizes entire communities in ways that increase the risk of suicide.”