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IS THE SUICIDE RATE A RANDOM WALK?
Journal article   Peer reviewed

IS THE SUICIDE RATE A RANDOM WALK?

Bijou Yang, David Lester, Jennifer Lyke and Robert Olsen
Psychological reports, v 116(3), pp 983-985
01 Jun 2015
PMID: 25933046

Abstract

Psychology Psychology, Multidisciplinary Social Sciences
The yearly suicide rates for the period 1933-2010 and the daily suicide numbers for 1990 and 1991 were examined for whether the distribution of difference scores (from year to year and from day to day) fitted a normal distribution, a characteristic of stochastic processes that follow a random walk. If the suicide rate were a random walk, then any disturbance to the suicide rate would have a permanent effect and national suicide prevention efforts would likely fail. The distribution of difference scores from day to day (but not the difference scores from year to year) fitted a normal distribution and, therefore, were consistent with a random walk.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
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