Research Article
Suicide and Marriage Rates: A Multivariate Analysis of National Data from 1970-2013 in Jamaica
Paul Andrew Bourne1*, Angela Hudson-Davis2, Charlene Sharpe-Pryce3, Ikhalfani Solan4, Shirley Nelson51Socio-Medical Research Institute, Jamaica
3Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica
4South Carolina State University, USA
5Barnet Private Resort, Bahamas
Abstract
Introduction: Suicide is an indication of psychiatric disorder, which is more associated with marital discord than marital unions. Despite the widely held view that suicide is not usually associated with maritial union, there is empirical evidence linking suicides to marriages.
Objective: This study seeks to evaluate the current gaps by way of examining suicide and marriage using 44 years of datapoints. This includes the role of the exchange rate in suicide and marriage rates discourse, determining absolute suicide as a per cent of absolute marriage, and likely correlations between suicide, marriage and the exchange rate.
Materials and Methods: The data for this study were taken from various Jamaica Government Publications including the Demographic Statistics. The period for this work is from 1970 through to 2013. Data were recorded, stored and retrieved using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows, Version 21.0. The level of significance that is used to determine statistical significance is less than 5% (0.05) at the 2-tailed level of significance. Ordinary least square (OLS) regressions were used to determine models or factors of suicide rate.
Findings: For the studied period, the average marriage rate was 64.0 ± 21.4 per 10,000 (95% CI: 57.2-70.7) and 1.2 ± 0.8 per 100,000 for the suicide rate. The average marriage rate and suicide rate for the studied decades have been increasing constantly from the 1970s to 2000s. The largest percentage annual increase for both the suicide rate (220%) and marriage rate (70.1%) occurred in the 1990s over the 1980s. There was also a 25% and 20.1% rise in suicide and marriage rates respectively in the 2000s over 1990s. Furthermore, on average, 42 persons are married daily in Jamaica and approximately 3 persons commit suicide monthly.
Conclusion: The psychiatric and psychological disturbances in marriages are overlooked because of the established theories on the benefits of marriages. Suicide is an expression of marital discords which are allowed to fester for too long until divorce proceedings commence. Frequently, these unresolved issues often culminate with one party committing suicide.
