School and seasonality in youth suicide: evidence from Japan

Matsubayashi, Tetsuya; Ueda, Michiko; Yoshikawa, Kanako

doi:10.1136/jech-2016-207583

“…The increase in student suicides during the summer break identified in this study was notable because the summer is typically characterized by a decline in suicide deaths among students (Matsubayashi et al, 2016). Our surveys did not contain many student respondents, but the results indicate that their mental health condition was worse than most of the other occupation categories (Supplementary Table 1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Similarly, a survey conducted between June and July (after school reopening) by the National Center for Child Health and Development reported that 72% of surveyed students (age 7-17 years) reported symptoms that indicated some form of stress reactions (National Center for Child Health and Development 2020). Returning to school after a summer break is known to be difficult for some students even in normal years, and student suicides have previously peaked on the first day of school after the summer break, specifically on September 1st (Matsubayashi et al, 2016). Many schools reopened in August this year because of the shortened school days in the spring, and thus the peak may have shifted earlier.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicide and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

Ueda

¹

,

Nordstrom

²

,

Matsubayashi

³

2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented public health crisis, but its effect on suicide deaths is little understood. Method: We analyzed data from monthly suicide statistics between January 2017 and August 2020 and online surveys on mental health among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Results: Compared to the last three years (2017-2019), the number of suicide deaths was lower during the initial phase of the pandemic but subsequently exceeded the past trend. By August 2020, the total number of suicides was 7.72% higher than the average number of suicides in the same month of the previous three years. The largest increase was found in suicides by young women (less than 40 years of age), with a 63.1% increase in August 2020 compared to the same month in the past three years. The number of suicides among students and housekeepers in summer months was notably larger in 2020. The survey data indicated that the status of mental health among young women was worse than that of women in other age groups. In addition, young female workers were more likely to have experienced a job or income loss in recent months compared to any other groups, suggesting adverse economic conditions surrounding some of these young female workers. Conclusion: Our results strongly indicate that continuous monitoring of mental health, particularly that of the most vulnerable populations identified in this study, and appropriate suicide prevention efforts are necessary during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

show abstract

“…Several studies argue that schooling substantially contributes to the high stress prevalence and stress-related mental health problems. For example, youth suicide rates increase at the beginning of the school year (Lahti et al, 2005;Matsubayashi et al, 2016) and, generally, are higher while school is in session (Hansen and Lang, 2011). Further, there is evidence that academic stress increases suicidal ideation (Ang and Huan, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased instruction time and stress-related health problems among school children

Marcus

¹

,

Reif

²

,

Wuppermann

³

et al. 2020

Journal of Health Economics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While several studies suggest that stress-related mental health problems among school children are related to speci c elements of schooling, empirical evidence on this causal relationship is scarce. We examine a German schooling reform that increased weekly instruction time and study its e ects on stress-related outpatient diagnoses from the universe of health claims data of the German Social Health Insurance. Exploiting the di erential timing in the reform implementation across states, we show that the reform slightly increased stress-related health problems among school children. While increasing instruction time might increase student performance, it might have adverse e ects in terms of additional stress.

show abstract

“…Several studies argue that schooling substantially contributes to the high stress prevalence and stress-related mental health problems. For example, youth suicide rates increase at the beginning of the school year (Lahti et al, 2005;Matsubayashi et al, 2016) and, generally, are higher while school is in session (Hansen and Lang, 2011). Further, there is evidence that academic stress increases suicidal ideation (Ang and Huan, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased Instruction Time and Stress-Related Health Problems among School Children

Marcus

¹

,

Reif

²

,

Wuppermann

³

et al. 2019

SSRN Journal

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While several studies suggest that stress-related mental health problems among school children are related to speci c elements of schooling, empirical evidence on this causal relationship is scarce. We examine a German schooling reform that increased weekly instruction time and study its e ects on stress-related outpatient diagnoses from the universe of health claims data of the German Social Health Insurance. Exploiting the di erential timing in the reform implementation across states, we show that the reform slightly increased stress-related health problems among school children. While increasing instruction time might increase student performance, it might have adverse e ects in terms of additional stress.

show abstract

School and seasonality in youth suicide: evidence from Japan

Abstract: Our findings strongly indicate that the cyclical pattern of youth suicide is closely related to the school calendar.

Cited by 36 publications

References 23 publications

Suicide and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

Suicide and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

Increased instruction time and stress-related health problems among school children

Increased Instruction Time and Stress-Related Health Problems among School Children

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About