Abstract
A component of the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index which measures longevity was negatively associated –.55 with suicide rates in 37 nations for men; the correlation with the suicide sex ratio was also negative (r = –.59). Women's access to social, political, and economic power in a subsample of 26 nations, summarized in the UNDP's Gender Empowerment Measure, was positively correlated with suicide rates (r = .36 for both women and men). UNDP measures of attainment in literacy and income showed no individual relationship with suicide rates. In a multiple regression model, life expectancy was negatively related, and the Gender-related Development index was positively related, to suicide rates.
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