A6 6..6

Two papers in the Journal this month examine factors that influence rates of suicide and suicidal behaviour, considering both individual and societal determinants. O’Reilly et al (pp. 106– 111) assessed the role of area-level factors in their 5-year followup study of the population in Northern Ireland. They found that suicide rates were higher in the more deprived areas of the country, as previous ecological studies have also found, but the relationship did not persist when account was taken of individual and household measures of isolation and socio-economic disadvantage. The authors argue that interventions aimed only at high-risk areas are unlikely to have a significant impact on suicide rates. Nock et al (pp. 98–105) examined the prevalence and associated risk factors for suicidal ideation, plans and attempts across 17 countries using data from the WHO World Mental Health Survey Initiative. Overall, they found the prevalence of suicidal ideation, plans and attempts to be 9.2%, 3.1% and 2.7% respectively. Although the authors found substantial cross-national variation in their results, they also found evidence of important consistencies, including the fact that the majority of transitions from ideation to first attempt occurred within the first year after ideation onset. In addition, the following risk factors were identified as important across countries: female gender, younger age, fewer years of education, unmarried status and the presence of a mental disorder.