Youth Suicide: Adult versus Peer Influence

Youth Suicide: Adult versus Peer Influence

Note: this is part of the Youth Suicide Rise project.

Before we move on to the question of implications, it is important to quickly clarify one issue regarding the high correlation between youth rates and past suicide rates.

We concentrated on the matter of past versus present, showing that the correlation of youth suicide with general (all-ages) suicide is considerably higher if we use the average of the preceding 7 years than if we use the concurrent rate.

Adult versus Youth Influence

Let us now also examine the issue of adult versus youth past rates.  Needless to say, the general (all-age) rate is determined mainly by adult rates, so correlation will remain high if we remove children and even youth (i.e. anyone under 20).

Will it be, however, higher than the correlation of youth rates with their own past averages?

The answer can be see in the following chart:

The answer is there is a huge difference!

In other words, youth rates have a rather poor correlation with their own preceding 7 years, and yet very high correlation with the preceding 7 years of adult rates.

Note:  the difference is even higher if we compare child suicide correlations with child versus adult past rates.