David Gunnell
Biographic Data
| ID | 136739 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David Gunnell |
| GIVEN NAMES | David |
| FAMILY NAME | Gunnell |
| SIGNATURE | GUNNELL D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bristol |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0829-6470 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 78 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 439 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 78 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 12 |
Longer-term impact of pesticide bans on suicide in South Korea
INTRODUCTION: Pesticide self-poisoning accounts for 14%-20% of global suicides. South Korea banned paraquat and eight insecticides commonly involved in suicide in 2011-2012. We investigated the longer-term (2013-2019) impact of the pesticide bans on reducing suicides in South Korea. METHODS: Suicide data by sex, age, area and method among people aged 15 years or above were extracted from registered death data (1997-2019). Data for suicide by self…
Preventing suicide by restricting access to Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs)
Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide. A previous systematic review showed that regulations limiting access to highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) were successful in preventing suicides. As the WHO strongly supports regulation of pesticides, we aimed to update and strengthen the evidence on the effectiveness of HHP bans. We conducted a systematic review by searching MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO databases in March 2024 for manuscripts publ…
Emotional dysregulation in childhood and disordered eating and self‐harm in adolescence
BACKGROUND: Emotional dysregulation may be a risk factor for disordered eating and self-harm in young people, but few prospective studies have assessed these associations long-term, or considered potential mediators. We examined prospective relationships between childhood emotional dysregulation and disordered eating and self-harm in adolescence; and social cognition, emotional recognition, and being bullied as mediators. METHODS: We analysed Avo…
All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in Parents After the Death of a Child in Taiwan
OBJECTIVE: Research from Western countries suggests that there is an increase in mortality in parents bereaved by the death of a child. Few studies have investigated this issue in a non-Western context. We explored the impact of the death of a child on parental mortality in Taiwan. METHOD: By linking population-based national registers, we followed the 2004-2014 birth cohort ( N = 2,083,972) up until 2016. A total of 11,755 child deaths were iden…
The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and Lockdowns on Self-Poisoning and Suicide in Sri Lanka
Evidence from high-income countries suggests that the impact of COVID-19 on suicide and self-harm has been limited, but evidence from low- and middle-income countries is lacking. Using data from a hospital-based self-poisoning register (January 2019-December 2021) and data from national records (2016-2021) of suicide in Sri Lanka, we aimed to assess the impact of the pandemic on both self-poisoning and suicide. We examined changes in admissions f…
Suicide and self-harm in low- and middle- income countries during the Covid-19 pandemic
There is widespread concern over the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide and self-harm globally, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where the burden of these behaviours is greatest. We synthesised the evidence from the published literature on the impact of the pandemic on suicide and self-harm in LMIC. This review is nested within a living systematic review (PROSPERO ID CRD42020183326 ) that continuously iden…
Clinical and psychosocial factors associated with domestic violence among men and women in Kandy, Sri Lanka
Domestic violence (DV) is a violation of human rights with adverse intergenerational consequences on physical and mental health. Clinical and psychosocial correlates of DV have been documented internationally, but evidence from South Asia is limited, especially among men. This is a nested cross-sectional study of the control population (N = 856) of a large case-control study in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Multivariable logistic regression models were condu…
Understanding suicide clusters through exploring self-harm
There was a highly publicised cluster of at least ten suicides in South Wales, United Kingdom, in 2007-2008. We carried out a qualitative descriptive study using cross-case thematic analysis to investigate the experiences and narratives of eight individuals who lived in the area where the cluster occurred and who survived an episode of near-fatal self-harm at the time of the cluster. Interviews were conducted from 01.01.2015 to 31.12.2015. All in…
Suicide trends in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic
Mental health before and during the Covid-19 pandemic in two longitudinal UK population cohorts
Background The COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation measures are likely to have a marked effect on mental health. It is important to use longitudinal data to improve inferences. Aims To quantify the prevalence of depression, anxiety and mental well-being before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, to identify groups at risk of depression and/or anxiety during the pandemic. Method Data were from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (…
Is being a 'left-behind' child associated with an increased risk of self-poisoning in adulthood? Findings from a case–control study in Sri Lanka
PURPOSE: The long-term consequences of parental emigration on offspring self-harm risk is unknown. METHODS: We investigated the association between experiencing parental emigration in childhood with hospital presentations for self-poisoning in adulthood using a hospital case-control study. Cases were adult self-poisoning patients (≥18 year olds) admitted to the medical toxicology ward Teaching Hospital Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Sex and age frequency…
Suicide risk and prevention during the Covid-19 pandemic
Gender difference in suicide in Taiwan over a century
Background Suicide rates are higher in men than in women in most countries, although the gender ratios vary markedly worldwide. We investigated long-term trends in suicide rates and the male-to-female ratios in relation to age, method and economic factors in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial (1905–1940) and postwar (1959–2012) periods. Methods Suicide data were from the Statistical Reports of Taiwan Governor’s Office (1905–1940), Vital Statisti…
Is teachers’ mental health and wellbeing associated with students’ mental health and wellbeing?
Prevalence of non-suicidal self-harm and service contact in England, 2000–14
BACKGROUND: The number of people presenting to hospital emergency departments after self-harming has increased in England. However, most people who self-harm do not present to hospitals, so whether this rise reflects an increase in the prevalence of self-harm in the community is unknown. Also unknown is whether the prevalence of non-suicidal self-harm (NSSH) or suicidal self-harm, or both, has increased. We aimed to establish temporal trends in t…
Suicide and suicide risk
Predictors of future suicide attempt among adolescents with suicidal thoughts or non-suicidal self-harm
BACKGROUND: Suicidal thoughts and non-suicidal self-harm are common in adolescents and are strongly associated with suicide attempts. We aimed to identify predictors of future suicide attempts in these high-risk groups. METHODS: Participants were from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a population-based birth cohort study in the UK. The sample included 456 adolescents who reported suicidal thoughts and 569 who reported non-suic…
Spatial patterning, correlates, and inequality in suicide across 432 neighborhoods in Taipei City, Taiwan
Vendor-based restrictions on pesticide sales to prevent pesticide self-poisoning - a pilot study
Our study suggests that vendor-based sales restriction in regions with high rates of self-poisoning has the potential to reduce access to pesticides for self-poisoning. A large-scale study of the effectiveness and sustainability of this approach is needed
Regional variation in suicide rates in Sri Lanka between 1955 and 2011
The findings provide some support for the hypothesis that changes in access to pesticides contributed to the marked fluctuations in Sri Lanka's suicide rate, but the impact of other factors cannot be ruled out
Making Sense of an Unknown Terrain
Self-harm is common in young people, and can have profound effects on parents and other family members. We conducted narrative interviews with 41 parents and other family members of 38 young people, aged up to 25, who had self-harmed. Most of the participants were parents but included one sibling and one spouse. This article reports experiences of the parent participants. A cross-case thematic analysis showed that most participants were bewildere…
Teachers' wellbeing and depressive symptoms, and associated risk factors
BACKGROUND: Teachers have been shown to have high levels of stress and common mental disorder, but few studies have examined which factors within the school environment are associated with poor teacher mental health. METHODS: Teachers (n=555) in 8 schools completed self-report questionnaires. Levels of teacher wellbeing (Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale-WEMWBS) and depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-PHQ-9) were measured and…
Protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention to improve the mental health support and training available to secondary school teachers – the Wise (Wellbeing in Secondary Educat…
International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number: ISRCTN95909211 registered 24/03/16
A pilot cluster randomised controlled trial of a support and training intervention to improve the mental health of secondary school teachers and students – the Wise (Wellbeing in Secondary Education) …
International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number: ISRCTN13255300 retrospectively registered 28/09/16
Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks in 188 countries, 1990–2013
Using natural experiments to evaluate population health interventions
Natural experimental studies are often recommended as a way of understanding the health impact of policies and other large scale interventions. Although they have certain advantages over planned experiments, and may be the only option when it is impossible to manipulate exposure to the intervention, natural experimental studies are more susceptible to bias. This paper introduces new guidance from the Medical Research Council to help researchers a…
Was the economic crisis 1997-1998 responsible for rising suicide rates in East/Southeast Asia? A time-trend analysis for Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand
Childhood leg length and adult mortality
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation between childhood height, its components--leg length and trunk length--and mortality in adulthood. DESIGN: Cohort study based on the Carnegie (Boyd Orr) Survey of diet and health in pre-war Britain, 1937-9. SETTING: The 14 centres in England and Scotland that participated in the Carnegie Survey and where children were examined. Scottish centres: Aberdeen, Dundee, West Wemyss, Coaltown of Wemyss, Hopeman, Met…
Why are suicide rates rising in young men but falling in the elderly?-a time-series analysis of trends in England and Wales 1950-1998
Explaining non-help-seeking amongst young adults with mental distress
Mental disorder is common amongst young adults and is associated with many adverse outcomes. Data, however, indicate that young adults are particularly unlikely to seek help for such distress. This paper describes a qualitative study of 23 young adults (aged 16 to 24 years) with mental distress. Interviewing was used to obtain detailed narratives of illness behaviour and to explore reasons for non-help-seeking. Help-seekers and non-help-seekers w…
Associations of height, leg length, and lung function with cardiovascular risk factors in the Midspan Family Study
Background: Taller people and those with better lung function are at reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Biological mechanisms for these associations are not well understood, but both measures may be markers for early life exposures. Some studies have shown that leg length, an indicator of pre-pubertal nutritional status, is the component of height most strongly associated with CHD risk. Other studies show that height-CHD associations a…
Life course accumulation of disadvantage
Combining individual and ecological data to determine compositional and contextual socio-economic risk factors for suicide
Urban-rural differences in suicide trends in young adults
Socioeconomic differences in childhood growth trajectories
BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic differentials in adult height are frequently observed, but the age at which these inequalities emerge and the patterns they follow through childhood are unknown. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), height trajectories from birth to 10 years (N=12366) were modelled. Individual trajectories were estimated using mixed-effects models. Differences in trajectories…
Suicide
In this paper we show that, by accounting for the varying influence of just three area indicators of social isolation, it is possible to predict the number of deaths due to suicide and undetermined injuries (most of which are suicides) across a great many areas remarkably closely. The exceptions to this model suggest that in a few unique areas of the country other local, often historical and cultural or intrinsically geographical factors matter a…
Suicide and the 2008 economic recession
The negative impacts of previous economic recessions on suicide rates have largely been attributed to rapid rises in unemployment in the context of inadequate social and work protection programmes. We have investigated trends in indicators of the 2008 economic recession and trends in suicide rates in England and Wales in men and women of working age (16-64 years old) for the period 2001-2011, before, during and after the economic recession, our a…
The geography of despair among 15–44-year-old men in England and Wales
Objective: To investigate the spatial patterning and possible contributors to the geographical distribution of suicide among 15–44- year-old men. Design: Small-area analysis and mapping of geo-coded 1988–94 suicide mortality data and 1991 census data using random-effects smoothing. Setting: 9265 electoral wards in England and Wales (mean population of men aged 15–44- years: about 1220). Main results: Two main patterns emerged: (a) in all of the 1…
Geography of suicide in Taiwan
Advanced paternal age
Average paternal age in the UK is increasing. The public health implications of this trend have not been widely anticipated or debated. This commentary aims to contribute to such a debate. Accumulated chromosomal aberrations and mutations occurring during the maturation of male germ cells are thought to be responsible for the increased risk of certain conditions with older fathers. Growing evidence shows that the offspring of older fathers have r…
Part and parcel of teaching? Secondary school staff's views on supporting student emotional health and well‐being
The need for schools to support children and young people's mental and emotional health is increasingly emphasised in policy initiatives, yet the role of teachers in this has been under explored. This paper reports findings from qualitative, semi‐structured interviews with 14 school staff at eight secondary schools in England, examining emotional health and well‐being (EHWB) activities in which they were involved. Three emergent themes are discus…
Height and health
Contemporary studies show that taller people live longer. 1 2 Short stature is particularly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and respiratory mortality. 2 It is uncertain whether this association existed in earlier generations, when disease patterns were quite different. Before the 19th century the main causes of death were infection, malnutrition, accidents and childbirth. Here we report an analysis of the association between b…
The association of childhood height, leg length and other measures of skeletal growth with adult cardiovascular disease
BACKGROUND: Taller adults have a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and there is some evidence that pre-adolescent exposures, indexed by leg length, underlie this association. Associations with other aspects of skeletal size in childhood have not previously been investigated. METHODS: We have examined associations of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity with childhood height, shoulder breadth, leg, trunk and foot length using a cohort of c…
Socio-economic disadvantage from childhood to adulthood and locomotor function in old age
BACKGROUND: Socio-economic influences over a lifetime impact on health and may contribute to poor physical functioning in old age. METHODS: The authors examined the impact of both childhood and adulthood socio-economic factors on locomotor function at 63-86 years (measured with the get up and go timed walk and flamingo balance test) in the UK-based Boyd Orr (n=405) and Caerphilly (n=1196) prospective cohorts. RESULTS: There was a marked reduction…
Socioeconomic measures in early old age as indicators of previous lifetime exposure to environmental health hazards
The relationship between disadvantage in early old age and disadvantage earlier in life was investigated by collecting lifetime residential and occupational histories from 294 subjects aged between 63 and 78 years. Lifetime exposure scores, expressed as the age-adjusted number of years exposed to a range of health hazards, were calculated. Associations between these scores and six measures of socioeconomic position after retirement were examined.…
Spatial patterning, correlates, and inequality in suicide across 432 neighborhoods in Taipei City, Taiwan
Making Sense of an Unknown Terrain
Self-harm is common in young people, and can have profound effects on parents and other family members. We conducted narrative interviews with 41 parents and other family members of 38 young people, aged up to 25, who had self-harmed. Most of the participants were parents but included one sibling and one spouse. This article reports experiences of the parent participants. A cross-case thematic analysis showed that most participants were bewildere…
An atlas of suicide mortality
Breast feeding and cardiovascular disease risk factors, incidence, and mortality
Study objective: To investigate the association of having been breast fed with cardiovascular disease risk factors, incidence, and mortality. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Caerphilly, South Wales. Participants: All men aged 45–59 years living in and around the study area. Of 2818 eligible men, 2512 (89%) were seen. Altogether 1580 men (63%) obtained details of how they had been fed in infancy (ever breast fed or only bottle fed) from…
Changes in the geography of suicide in young men
BACKGROUND: Suicide rates changed considerably in men aged <45 years in England and Wales between 1980 and 2005. The impact of these changes on the geographic distribution of suicide is unknown. METHODS: Mapping of geo-coded standardised mortality ratios for suicide in 1113 census tracts (mean population 46 000) in England and Wales, smoothed using Bayesian hierarchical models, for 15-44 year old men during 1981-1985, 1991-1995 and 2001-2005. RES…
Epidemiology and patterns of hospital use after parasuicide in the south west of England
OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiology, management, and outcome of parasuicide in the south west of England. DESIGN: Descriptive analysis using routine information systems. SETTING: The former South Western Regional Health Authority, population aged 10 and over: 2.9 million. SUBJECTS: These comprised 5080 residents of the South Western Health Region, admitted on 5770 occasions for parasuicide between April 1992 and March 1993 to hospitals in the…
Suicide from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in England
OBJECTIVES: To examine the epidemiology of suicide by jumping from the Clifton Suspension Bridge and its impact on local patterns of suicide. DESIGN: Case-control study of falls from the bridge (1974-93) matched by age and sex with those using other methods of suicide. Routine OPCS mortality statistics for Bristol and District Health Authority. SETTING: The County of Avon and the Bristol and District Health Authority. SUBJECTS: 1. Individuals giv…
Use of the EuroQoL among elderly acute care patients
Effect of varying the time frame for Coop-Wonca functional health status charts
STUDY OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether changing the stated time frame for COOP-WONCA charts has any effect on responses. Specifically, to assess the effect of attempting to avoid the situation where the time frame crosses the onset of an acute episode. DESIGN: A randomised controlled trial of two time frames, nested within a main trial comparing early discharge with a hospital at home scheme against routine discharge policy. The time frames com…
Childhood leg length and adult mortality
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation between childhood height, its components--leg length and trunk length--and mortality in adulthood. DESIGN: Cohort study based on the Carnegie (Boyd Orr) Survey of diet and health in pre-war Britain, 1937-9. SETTING: The 14 centres in England and Scotland that participated in the Carnegie Survey and where children were examined. Scottish centres: Aberdeen, Dundee, West Wemyss, Coaltown of Wemyss, Hopeman, Met…
Ecological study of social fragmentation, poverty, and suicide
Objectives: To investigate the association between suicide and area based measures of deprivation and social fragmentation. Design: Ecological study. Setting: 633 parliamentary constituencies of Great Britain as defined in 1991. Main outcome measures: Age and sex specific mortality rates for suicide and all other causes for 1981-92. Results: Mortality from suicide and all other causes increased with increasing Townsend deprivation score, social f…
What are the characteristics of general practitioners who routinely do not return postal questionnaires
0.69 (0.53 to 0
Life course accumulation of disadvantage
Socioeconomic measures in early old age as indicators of previous lifetime exposure to environmental health hazards
The relationship between disadvantage in early old age and disadvantage earlier in life was investigated by collecting lifetime residential and occupational histories from 294 subjects aged between 63 and 78 years. Lifetime exposure scores, expressed as the age-adjusted number of years exposed to a range of health hazards, were calculated. Associations between these scores and six measures of socioeconomic position after retirement were examined.…
Height and health
Contemporary studies show that taller people live longer. 1 2 Short stature is particularly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and respiratory mortality. 2 It is uncertain whether this association existed in earlier generations, when disease patterns were quite different. Before the 19th century the main causes of death were infection, malnutrition, accidents and childbirth. Here we report an analysis of the association between b…
Associations of height, leg length, and lung function with cardiovascular risk factors in the Midspan Family Study
Background: Taller people and those with better lung function are at reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Biological mechanisms for these associations are not well understood, but both measures may be markers for early life exposures. Some studies have shown that leg length, an indicator of pre-pubertal nutritional status, is the component of height most strongly associated with CHD risk. Other studies show that height-CHD associations a…
Suicide
In this paper we show that, by accounting for the varying influence of just three area indicators of social isolation, it is possible to predict the number of deaths due to suicide and undetermined injuries (most of which are suicides) across a great many areas remarkably closely. The exceptions to this model suggest that in a few unique areas of the country other local, often historical and cultural or intrinsically geographical factors matter a…
Why are suicide rates rising in young men but falling in the elderly?-a time-series analysis of trends in England and Wales 1950-1998
Urban-rural differences in suicide trends in young adults
Help-seeking behaviour in men and women with common mental health problems
BACKGROUND: Many people with mental health problems do not seek professional help but their use of other sources of help is unclear. AIMS: To investigate patterns of lay and professional help-seeking in men and women aged 16-64 years in relation to severity of symptoms and socio-demographic variables. METHOD: Postal questionnaire survey, including the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), sent to a stratified random sample (n=15,222) of …
Breast feeding and cardiovascular disease risk factors, incidence, and mortality
Study objective: To investigate the association of having been breast fed with cardiovascular disease risk factors, incidence, and mortality. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Caerphilly, South Wales. Participants: All men aged 45–59 years living in and around the study area. Of 2818 eligible men, 2512 (89%) were seen. Altogether 1580 men (63%) obtained details of how they had been fed in infancy (ever breast fed or only bottle fed) from…
Milk as a food for growth? The insulin-like growth factors link
Objective The mechanisms underlying the association of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and leg length (a marker of prepubertal growth) with cancer risk are uncertain. One hypothesis is that diet in early childhood might provide the link. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between early diet – in particular, the intakes of cows' milk and dairy products – and height, leg length and IGF-I levels at age 7–8 years. Subjec…
The geography of despair among 15–44-year-old men in England and Wales
Objective: To investigate the spatial patterning and possible contributors to the geographical distribution of suicide among 15–44- year-old men. Design: Small-area analysis and mapping of geo-coded 1988–94 suicide mortality data and 1991 census data using random-effects smoothing. Setting: 9265 electoral wards in England and Wales (mean population of men aged 15–44- years: about 1220). Main results: Two main patterns emerged: (a) in all of the 1…
Advanced paternal age
Average paternal age in the UK is increasing. The public health implications of this trend have not been widely anticipated or debated. This commentary aims to contribute to such a debate. Accumulated chromosomal aberrations and mutations occurring during the maturation of male germ cells are thought to be responsible for the increased risk of certain conditions with older fathers. Growing evidence shows that the offspring of older fathers have r…
An atlas of suicide mortality
Reproducibility measures and their effect on diet–cancer associations in the Boyd Orr cohort
Objectives: To quantify measurement error in the estimation of family diet intakes using 7-day household food inventories and to investigate the effect of measurement-error adjustment on diet–disease associations. Design and setting: Historical cohort study in 16 districts in England and Scotland, between 1937 and 1939. Subjects: 4999 children from 1352 families in the Carnegie Survey of Diet and Health. 86.6% of these children were traced as adu…
Combining individual and ecological data to determine compositional and contextual socio-economic risk factors for suicide
Explaining non-help-seeking amongst young adults with mental distress
Mental disorder is common amongst young adults and is associated with many adverse outcomes. Data, however, indicate that young adults are particularly unlikely to seek help for such distress. This paper describes a qualitative study of 23 young adults (aged 16 to 24 years) with mental distress. Interviewing was used to obtain detailed narratives of illness behaviour and to explore reasons for non-help-seeking. Help-seekers and non-help-seekers w…
Self-poisoning in rural Sri Lanka
Considerable small-area variation in incidence rates of intentional self-poisoning was found. The noteworthy concentration of cases in certain areas and the inverse association with socioeconomic deprivation merit attention and should be investigated using individual-level exposure data
Childhood circumstances and anthropometry
The individual components of stature most strongly associated with childhood environment in this age group were leg and foot length
Medicine (69 works) · Environmental health (47 works) · Demography (44 works) · Poison control (37 works) · Population (33 works) · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies (32 works) · Suicide prevention (29 works) · Psychology (25 works) · Injury prevention (24 works) · Psychiatry (23 works)