Predictors of Suicide and Accidental Death from Adolescence through Midlife: Evidence from High School and Beyond

• In Event: 523 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 13. Influence of Family Context and Friends/Peers

Abstract

Unintentional injuries and suicide are the leading causes of death among Americans between the ages of 15 and 34 (Heron 2015; Kochanek, Arias, and Anderson 2013). Although we know a great deal about the demographic correlates of death from suicide and accidents, we know much less about the educational, behavioral, psychological, or other factors that may mediate the effects of sex, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic variables on risk of death from these two causes through midlife. Through what processes or via what mechanisms do sex, race/ethnic, and socioeconomic differences in rates of suicide and accidental death arise? We use new data on a large, nationally representative sample of adolescents in 1980 who have been followed through midlife in 2014 as part of the High School and Beyond (HSB) project. As expected, we find that HSB boys are at greater risk of death from both causes. We also find that Hispanics are at greater risk of death from accidents but at less risk of death from suicide. Various aspects of adolescents’ educational experiences mediate most of these relationships.

Authors

• John Robert Warren, University of Minnesota

• Tim Werwath, University of Texas at Austin

• Sarah Garcia, University of Minnesota