Scientists have found out those men who score well in intelligence tests are less likely to commit suicide than those with lower scores.
Researchers analyzed test scores for 987,308 armed forced recruits and then cross-referenced the data with those who subsequently committed suicide over 26 years - a total of almost 3,000. They found that those with the lowest scores were three times more likely to take their own lives.
“There is a strong inverse association between intelligence test scores and suicide,” said Finn Rasmussen, associate professor from Sweden's Karolinska Institute. “Better performance on the tests was associated with a reduced risk of suicide,” he said.
Scientists believe that poor test scores could be associated with depression and schizophrenia - two conditions which contribute to suicide. They also believe that it is possible that people with low intelligence are less able to deal with their problems and may consider suicide as a solution.
Robert Goldney, professor of psychiatry at the University of Adelaide, praised the study but said while the statistical association was strong in an individual person it's not much of a risk.
He said a real weakness of the paper was that the intelligence of the subjects had been measured at the age of 18. By that stage, he said, they might already have begun to develop psychiatric problems that would lower their intelligence scores. If so, that would mean some of those recorded as having lower intelligence were in fact already ill with psychiatric illnesses, skewing the results.
Professor Goldney, however, said that the individual suicide risk remained small and parents should not worry.
Meanwhile, Rasmussen and his team called for more detailed studies to investigate the possible underlying reasons for suicide.
The latest figures for Australia showed the suicide rate for males aged 15 to 19 had fallen by 30 per cent in six years, from 2720 in 1997 to 2213 in 2003.
