A century of suicide: Insights from long-term data in the United States.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Population-level historical ecological mortality surveillance study (1900–2021)
PubMed 42044338 · doi:10.1073/pnas.2519951123
What was done
Researchers harmonized US mortality data from 1900 to 2021 to build the Suicide Trends and Archival Comparative Knowledgebase (STACK). They combined data visualizations and Joinpoint regression analyses to assess long-term, population-level temporal, geographic, demographic, and method-specific suicide trends across 120 years.
What was found
The abstract reports trend directions without exact rates or numerical estimates. Across the full 120-year period, overall US suicide rates followed a cyclical, dampening, and downward trajectory. However, this overall trend was counteracted by a sustained increase among individuals under age 35 that began in the mid-to-late 1950s, with each successive generation showing elevated risk at progressively younger ages. Additionally, suicide by hanging rose substantially among both males and females starting in the 1980s. Recently, older age and living in large metropolitan areas (compared to suburban and rural areas) emerged as protective factors.
Why it matters
These findings show that the current youth suicide crisis has historical roots stretching back to the 1950s rather than being solely a recent phenomenon. Understanding these long-term demographic shifts and method transitions provides essential context for targeted public health and suicide prevention strategies.
Limits
The abstract provides no exact numbers, rates, or confidence intervals. The study is subject to historical data sequence discontinuities and archival reporting variability across a century-long timeframe. Subgroup evaluations by race and rurality were limited to only the past 50 years due to historical data gaps, and the ecological design cannot establish individual-level causal drivers.