Title: Impacts of weather abnormalities on to mental health problems related suicidal behaviours: an economic approach

Authors: Suzan Odabaşı

Addresses: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Uşak University, Uşak, Turkey

Abstract: This study aims to estimate the impacts of climate variation on suicide rates in the USA by using county-level data on temperature, and mental health-related suicides between 2011 and 2020. In addition to climate factors, several socio-economic factors such as uninsured population rate, access to mental health providers, and unemployment rate are included to estimate their impacts on suicides. The estimation is separately performed for female, male and overall groups. The results indicate that while there is limited evidence of the impact of precipitation on suicidal behaviours, the average daily minimum air temperature is an important determinant of the suicides in the US counties.

Keywords: climate change; weather; health economics; unemployment; access to health services; suicide.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGW.2022.126672

International Journal of Global Warming, 2022 Vol.28 No.3, pp.260 - 274

Received: 12 Dec 2021
Received in revised form: 29 Apr 2022
Accepted: 29 Apr 2022
Published online: 01 Nov 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article