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Negative economic messaging impacting on suicide rates, says new research

Relentless negative reporting on economic downturns is impacting on people’s emotions and contributing to the suicide rate, according to new research.

    Women in a dark room looking stressed
    The effect of a financial crisis was found to be stronger for women

    Carried out by Professor Alan Collins from Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University and Dr Adam Cox, University of Portsmouth, the project built on existing work which shows that suicide rates increase in times of economic strife and uncertainty.

    The study used data from the USA and took into account the 2007 financial crash and global financial crisis to explore ‘consumer sentiment’ - the emotional reaction and way in which people perceive their economic situation to unfold, such as expecting to lose their employment.

    The findings revealed that the average suicide rate increased significantly in the aftermath of the financial crisis for all sex and age groups, wherein the effect was stronger for females than for males.

    There was also a correlation between the Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) [1] – a measure of consumer’s perceptions of their financial situation and of the economy in general – and the average suicide rate. Results showed that a more positive consumer outlook on personal finance and the economy in general, as measured by the CSI, lowers the rate.

    Alan Collins, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Nottingham Business School, said: “Our results showed that consumer sentiment plays a significantly greater role in explaining variations of the suicide rate compared to traditional economic indicators such as income and unemployment figures.

    “People have a ‘gut feeling’ of how their situation may progress and constant negative announcements, reporting and media communication have an impact on this. Beliefs about future unemployment can also be exacerbated by social media. These relentless messages depress consumer sentiment and raise suicidality, whereas an increase in consumer sentiment makes people more optimistic, which dissuades them from engaging in suicidal behaviour.”

    Dr Adam Cox, principal lecturer in Economics and Finance at Portsmouth Business School, added: “We also tested the impact of state public and health expenditures and found no evidence to suggest that increased spending lowers suicide. Taken together, these results pose some awkward questions for policymakers, especially in the context of justifying mental health expenditure budgets and communicating economic policy that affects consumers.

    “Broader consumer sentiment should be recognised as a source of potential mental health issues and communications should reflect this. The qualification rarely made in such communications is that all economic downturns are followed by upswings and that downswings can actually be a good time to contemplate training and education opportunities in preparation for upswings.”

    The full paper Suicide, Sentiment and Crisis has been published online by The Social Science Journal.

    [1] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mcsi.asp

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      About Nottingham Trent University

      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was named University of the Year 2019 in the Guardian University Awards. The award was based on performance and improvement in the Guardian University Guide, retention of students from low-participation areas and attainment of BME students. NTU was also the Times Higher Education University of the Year 2017, and The Times and Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2018. These awards recognise NTU for its high levels of student satisfaction, its quality of teaching, its engagement with employers, and its overall student experience.

      The university has been rated Gold in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework – the highest ranking available.

      It is one of the largest UK universities. With nearly 32,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across four campuses, the University contributes £900m to the UK economy every year. With an international student population of more than 3,000 from around 100 countries, the University prides itself on its global outlook

      The university is passionate about creating opportunities and its extensive outreach programme is designed to enable NTU to be a vehicle for social mobility. NTU is among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. A total of 82% of its graduates go on to graduate entry employment or graduate entry education or training within six months of leaving. Student satisfaction is high: NTU achieved an 88% satisfaction score in the 2018 National Student Survey.

      NTU is also one of the UK’s most environmentally friendly universities, containing some of the sector’s most inspiring and efficient award-winning buildings.

      NTU is home to world-class research, and won The Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2015 – the highest national honour for a UK university. It recognised the University’s pioneering projects to improve weapons and explosives detection in luggage; enable safer production of powdered infant formula; and combat food fraud.

    Published on 8 May 2019
    • Category: Business; Press office; Research; Nottingham Business School