In 2017 Australia saw the highest overall suicide rate in the past 10 years, with male suicide rates three times higher than in women. Since the mid-1980s there have been major changes in suicide epidemiology in Australia with large shifts in method of suicide among both men and women. This study examined method-specific suicide trends in Australian men over the past 40 years by state. Suicide mortality data for the period 1978 to 2017 was obtained from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) National Mortality Database and log-linear Poisson regression analysis was used to analyse suicide mortality. This study found large differences between states in patterns and trends in suicide mortality from 1978 to 2017. Hanging, gas and firearms were the most common methods of suicide in Australia. We found statistically significant increasing trends in hanging suicide among men in all six states. The study findings highlight the growing concern of hanging-related suicide in all states in Australia since the late 1970s. New suicide prevention strategies focusing on the ubiquity and ease of hanging as a method will be needed in order for Australia to reduce suicide mortality in future.

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Background In 2018 the overall suicide rate increased by 33% among students, as a part of a continued trend of rising suicide among adolescents. In 2015, the government of Japan aimed to reduce the overall suicide rate to 13 per 100,000 or less by 2025, but deaths among adolescents have been rising. This study analysed the trends in method-specific suicide among Japanese adolescents from 1979 to 2016 and compared suicide mortality rate in Japan with other OECD countries. Methods We obtained vital statistics data from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as well as the global health observatory of the WHO. Poisson regression analysis was performed separately by sex with year, age category, suicide method and a 1998 step variable as covariates. Results We found that hanging suicide rates among high school level boys are 12.15 times and girls are 6.17 times the rate of elementary school-aged children. The year 1998 saw a peak in suicide rates by hanging, which increased by more than 60% among both boys and girls. Japan is near the median of OECD suicide rates, with crude suicide mortality rates of 7.8 per 100,000 among 15–19-year-olds in 2016. Conclusions Suicide among adolescents has been rising during the last decades. Several factors related to the school and family environment, and mental health problems may have affected the adolescent suicide rate in Japan Key messages An urgent need is evident to address suicide among high school and university-aged adolescents.

The interaction between health-related quality of life and parenting styles can give rise to perceptions that influence behaviour in adolescents. It is thought to affect key el- ements in the emotional development of stu- dents at a very important stage. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the re- lationship between health-related quality of life and perceived parental educational style as a function of parental gender. A total of 253 adolescents aged 11 and 18 years were selected from secondary schools in a region of south-eastern Spain. The Scale of Norms and Demands Children’s Version (ENE-H by its Spanish acronym) and the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) were used. This was a quantitative research project and data mining was used for data analysis. The results showed that the inductive parenting style is related to physical role, emotional problems, vitality, emotional well-being, pain and general health. We also observed that the rigid style is neg- atively related to physical role, vitality, emo- tional well-being, social functioning, pain and general health. Finally, the indulgent style is negatively related to pain. The findings shed light on the need to provide health-related training programmes that consider family characteristics.