Ethnicity and suicide in Hawaii

Abstract

A multivariate model was built to investigate the effect of ethnicity on suicide in Hawaii. To provide the model with enough flexibility, both linear and nonlinear functions were employed. The three ethnic groups studied were Japanese, Caucasians, and Filipinos. The results show that Japanese have the highest tendency to commit suicide while the Filipinos have the lowest. However, the suicide rates of the three groups appear to be approaching a common value. While age and sex proved to be highly significant in explaining suicides, the magnitude and the form of their effect differ between one ethnic group and another. The trends of suicide rates for each ethnic group seem to be the least uniform. Suicide rates are decreasing for Japanese males and females and for Caucasian males. They are increasing for Caucasian females and Filipino males, while not changing for Filipino females.