Gender and teen suicide
A recent University of Toronto study has taken a closer look at statistics that show suicide rates are significantly higher among teen boys than teen girls. Researcher Anne Rhodes tested three leading assumptions about the role that gender plays: that deaths may be misclassified; that boys and girls seek help in different ways; and that girls and boys experience differences in child abuse.
Her findings reaffirm that gender differences do exist, despite potential reclassification of deaths. Findings related to help-seeking behaviour and experiences of abuse were inconclusive.
“Suicide and the Gender Paradox” was featured in the Spring/Summer 2012 volume of Intersections: A newsletter of the Institute of Gender and Health alongside other stories about gender-specific health. Intersections is developed by the Canadian Institute for Health Research.
You can read the online issue of Intersections, on the website for the Canadian Institute of Health Research.
