The spreading of suicidal behavior: The contextual effect of community household poverty on adolescent suicidal behavior and the mediating role of suicide suggestion

Despite the longstanding interest of social researchers in the social factors that influence suicide and suicidal behavior, multilevel research on this topic has been limited. Using nested survey data on 5331 Icelandic adolescents (born in 1990 and 1991) in 83 school-communities, the current study examines the contextual effect of community household poverty on adolescent suicidal behavior (suicide ideation and suicide attempt). The findings show that the concentration of household poverty in the school-community has a significant, contextual effect on adolescent suicidal behavior. Furthermore, we test an “epidemic” explanation for this effect, examining the mediating role of suicide suggestion (contact with suicidal others). We find that suicide suggestion mediates a substantial part of the contextual effect of community household poverty on suicide attempt, while mediation is modest in the case of suicide ideation. The findings indicate that community household poverty increases the risk of adolescent suicidal behavior in part because communities in which household poverty is common entail a higher risk for adolescents of associating with suicidal others. The study demonstrates how the concentration of individual problems can have macrolevel implications, creating social mechanisms that cannot be reduced to the circumstances or characteristics of individuals.