Gender and Suicide Method: Do Women Avoid Facial Disfiguration?

This study hypothesizes that women are less likely than men to use suicide methods that disfigure the face. Gender differences in the use of suicide methods that disfigure the face were examined using medical examiner’s files of 621 suicides covering a 10-year period from Summit County, Ohio in the U.S. Results showed that while firearms are the preferred method for both women and men, women were less likely to shoot themselves in the head. A series of logistic regression analyses revealed that gender, age, stressful life events and prior suicide attempts were predictors of methods that disfigure the face/head. Significant differences between men and women in correlates of suicide method emerged when the sample was split by gender. The results support the position that women who commit suicide are more likely than men who commit suicide to avoid facial disfiguration.