NATIONAL CONTEXT, SOCIAL-CHANGE, AND SEX-DIFFERENCES IN SUICIDE RATES

Rejecting claims of either convergence or divergence in male and femal e suicide rates associated with changes in gender equality I examine a hypothesis of institutional adjustment in which the sex differential in suicide rates first narrows and then widens with continued societal change. Further, I argue that among high-income nations, the degree o f institutional adjustment varies with national context. Using aggrega te data on age-specific suicide rates for melt and women in 18 nations from 1953 to 1992, the analysis shows curvilinear effects of age, tim e, the female labor force participation rate, the divorce rate, and th e marriage rate consistent with the institutional adjustment hypothesi s. The analysis also shows that adjustment occurs more quickly among n ations with collectivist rather than individualist institutions of soc ial protection.