A SYSTEMIC SOCIAL DETERMINANT OF SELF-ESTEEM AND SUICIDE

The Relative Age Effect

Angus ThompsonAlberta Centre For Injury control & Research, and the Departments

of Psychiatry & Public Health Sciences University of Alberta

Presented at the annual conference of the Canadian Association For Suicide Prevention, October 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

HOCKEY AND RELATIVE AGE

DISTRIBUTION OF BIRTHMONTHS OF O.H.L. AND W.H.L. PLAYERS

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Month of Birth

Perc

enta

ge o

f Pl

ayer

s

W.H.L.

O.H.L.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIRTHDATES AND "TIER" IN MINOR HOCKEY

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sept Oct-Dec

Birth Quarter

Perc

ent W

ithin

Tie

rsTop Tier

Middle Tier

Bottom Tier

SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT AND RELATIVE AGE

CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE WHO ARE RELATIVELY YOUNG AT GRADE ONE ENTRY

Poorer Achievement

More Likely Placement in LD Classes

Thought To Be Less Intelligent By Teachers

Lower Self-Esteem?

PERCEIVED INTELLIGENCE OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE AN IQ OF 100 BUT DIFFER IN AGE AT SCHOOL ENTRY

90

95

100

105

110

78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92

AGE AT GRADE ONE ENTRY (MONTHS)

IQ

Grade 1

Grade 12

PERCENTAGE OF GRADE THREE ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDENTSACHIEVING ACCEPTABLE STANDARDS AND EXCELLENCE BY AGE

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

<7

7 to 7-1

1

8 to 8-2

8-3 to

8-5

8-6 to

8-8

8-9 to

8-11

9 to 9-2

9-3 to

9-5

9-6 to

9-8

9-9 to

9-11

10 to 10-1

111+

EDMONTON-STD ALBERTA-STD

EDMONTON-EXCEL ALBERTA-EXCEL

SUICIDE AND RELATIVE AGE

Relative Age Classificationof Youth Suicides for EachGrade 1 Entry Cutoff Date

Young Old

March 1 172 152

Jan. 1 117 92

Sept. 1 9 5

Nov. 1 7 2

Oct. 1 6 1

Dec. 1 1 0

Total 312 252

SELF-ESTEEM AND RELATIVE AGE

VARIATION IN TOTAL SELF-ESTEEM AS A FUNCTION OF FAMILY STRUCTURE AND AGE AT ENTERING

GRADE 1

44

46

48

50

52

54

56

5-3 to

5-5

5-6 to

5-8

5-9 to

5-1

1

6-0 to

6-2

6-3 to

6-5

6-6 to

6-8

AGE (Years - Months)

Sel

f-Es

teem

T-S

core

Broken Family Intact Family

EarlyEntrants

"Correct" AgeFor Grade One

LateEntrants

PROBLEMS WITH SELF-ESTEEM

• Does Not Correlate With Supposed Outcomes

• Improved SE No Other Behaviour Change

• Associations Accounted For By Depression

• Too Much Whining!

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

None Death Wish Ideation Plan Attempt

LEVEL OF SUICIDAL BEHAVIOUR

T S

core

TOTAL SELF-ESTEEM AND SUICIDAL BEHAVIOUR AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Self-Efficacy

Achievement

Socialization

Depression

Hope

Suicide

SELF-ESTEEM AS AN EPIPHENOMENON

Self-Esteem

CONCLUSIONS

Potential Remedies:

1. Changes in the grouping of children for competitive activities.

2. Further examination of the role of competition in child development.

3. Ensure that every child has much experience with success.

Relative age effects on emotional development, and suicidal behaviour are generally left unattended.