Male construction workers exhibit a 50 per cent elevated risk of engaging in suicide attempts and actual suicides, as evidenced by research from the University of Gothenburg. This study reinforces the observation that suicidal behaviour tends to be more prevalent amongst men in lower educational requirement professions.
Published in the journal BMC Public Health, the research utilised registry data encompassing 1,542,665 Swedish men of working age, investigating the correlations between suicide and suicide attempts and the occupation held by the individuals the year preceding such events.
These men were selected for the study via conscription data and had no known history of suicidal behaviour before the survey; throughout the study, which spanned from 2002 to 2019 and included men aged between 25 and 65, slightly over two per cent experienced at least one incident of suicidal behaviour, which included 31,797 attempts at suicide and 5,526 actual suicides.
The construction sector has been identified as a high-risk industry. The research team at the University of Gothenburg had previously uncovered that a macho culture and stigmatisation towards mental health issues often dominate the work environment within the construction industry. The current findings indicate that the likelihood of engaging in suicidal behaviour is 50 per cent higher among male construction workers in Sweden compared to the broader group of men involved in the study.
Maria Åberg, Professor of General Medicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg and co-author of the study, said, “The construction industry is physically very demanding and stressful, which adversely affects both physical and mental well-being. Our earlier studies also pointed out chronic pain as a contributing factor that may lead to the excessive consumption of alcohol and painkillers.”
Additionally, the research highlighted that among working men, those in professions requiring lower educational levels faced the highest risks of suicidal behaviour. This category includes roles such as cleaners, sanitation workers, newspaper delivery workers, fast food employees, factory workers, and salespeople. For men employed in these roles, the risk of suicide and suicide attempts was found to be sixty per cent higher.
Jenny Nyberg, Associate Professor of Public Health at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, and the study lead authority’s lead author, notes, “Men in service and care professions often experience high work-related stress and possess limited control over their work circumstances. While this can precipitate mental health issues, other studies have suggested that these professions may attract individuals who are already mentally vulnerable.”
The study also observed that the highest risk of suicidal behaviour was among unemployed men, where the risk more than doubled in comparison to the average risk across all men in the study. Conversely, the lowest risk was noted among men who held managerial positions in sales and marketing. Among highly educated professionals such as engineers and researchers, the risk of suicidal behaviour was significantly lower, showing a reduction by half when compared to the overall group of men in the study.
More information: Jenny Nyberg et al, Occupational groups and risk of suicidal behavior in men: a Swedish national cohort study during 2002–2019, BMC Public Health. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-20887-x
Journal information: BMC Public Health Provided by University of Gothenburg
