Social distancing and influenza mortality in 1918 did not increase suicide rates in the United States
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15742610 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hampton Gaddy (0000-0001-6397-4679, University of Oxford, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Pages | 100944-100944 |
| Publication date | 2021-10-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | SSM - Population Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2352-8273 • E-ISSN: 2352-8273 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100944 |
| PMID | 34746358 |
| OpenAlex | W3207564821 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 33 |
Recent research has suggested that the social distancing mandates introduced in the United States during the main waves of the 1918-20 influenza pandemic caused an increase in suicide rates. However, that finding relies on poor-quality, temporally mismatched data and has signs of omitted variable bias. Similarly, a long-standing finding that American suicide rates in 1918-20 were also boosted by the influenza mortality of the time has gone unquestioned in the literature, despite the original research admitting its risk of ecological fallacy. Using higher-powered mortality data, I cast doubt on both findings by analyzing the experiences of the pandemic in 43 of the largest American cities of the time. In line with some populations' experiences of COVID-19, I report tentative evidence that social distancing mandates during the 1918-20 pandemic may have been associated with decreased suicide rates. Larger, cross-national investigations of the effects of historical pandemics and social distancing mandates on mental health and suicide are needed
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Criminology · Distancing · Environmental health · Fallacy · Influenza pandemic · Mortality rate · Pandemic · Poison control · Psychiatry · Social distance · Social isolation · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Suicide rates · Climate Change and Health Impacts · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · Demography · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Psychology
Excess mortality
Suicide risk and prevention during the Covid-19 pandemic
Suicide trends in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic
Nonpharmaceutical Interventions Implemented by US Cities During the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic
Lessons from the History of Quarantine, from Plague to Influenza A
Is the cure really worse than the disease? The health impacts of lockdowns during Covid-19
Mental Health During the First Year of the Covid-19 Pandemic
The effects of in-utero exposure to influenza on mental health and mortality risk throughout the life-course
Social distancing as a critical test of the micro-sociology of solidarity
Alone Together
Influenza Pandemic
Health Shocks and Human Capital Accumulation
Is the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Over? Long‐Term Effects of In Utero Influenza Exposure in the Post‐1940 U.S. Population
No consistent effects of prenatal or neonatal exposure to Spanish flu on late-life mortality in 24 developed countries
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |