The Effect of Immigration on Suicide: A Cross-National Analysis

Research on the effects of immigration on the rate of suicide has been largely restricted to a few unsystematic case studies of individual cities and nations. This paper performs a systematic cross-national investigation of the impact of the lowered integration and culture shock associated with international migration on the suicide rate in 34 nations. A multiple regression analysis indicates that the rate of immigration affects the incidence of suicide independent of our two control variables, the proportion of the population over 65, and female participation in the labor force, an indicator drawn from the status integration approach to suicide. A 1% increase in immigration is associated with a .13% increase in the rate of suicide. However, analysis of the relative importance of variables in explaining the variance in suicide indicates that our control variables are somewhat more important than the rate of long-term immigration. Research on the effects of immigration on the rate of suicide has been largely restricted to a few unsystematic case studies of individual cities and nations. This paper performs a systematic cross-national investigation of the impact of the lowered integration and culture shock associated with international migration on the suicide rate in 34 nations. A multiple regression analysis indicates that the rate of immigration affects the incidence of suicide independent of our two control variables, the proportion of the population over 65, and female participation in the labor force, an indicator drawn from the status integration approach to suicide. A 1% increase in immigration is associated with a .13% increase in the rate of suicide. However, analysis of the relative importance of variables in explaining the variance in suicide indicates that our control variables are somewhat more important than the rate of long-term immigration.