Background: Divorced individuals carry unique suicide risks, from both acute and chronic exposure to stressors from divorce. Aims: Several statewide data sets were linked to assess the relationship between divorce and suicide. Method: Divorced suicide decedents in the Colorado Violent Death Reporting System, 2004-2015, were matched with divorce decree, using multiple identifiers. Statistically significant differences between the linked cohort and all divorced suicide decedents were assessed using chi-square statistics. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were conducted assessing which demographics and circumstances had a significant effect on the time between divorce and death. Results: The linkage resulted in 381 divorced suicide decedents linked to a divorce decree. Time between divorce and death ranged from less than 1 year to more than 10 years. Age and intimate partner problems both had significant effects on reducing the survival probability at 1 year and beyond. Limitations: Only 14% of divorced suicide decedents were linked to a Colorado divorce decree. There were noted significant differences between the linked cohort and the total divorced suicide population. Conclusion: Better understanding the relationship between divorce and suicide is imperative to design effective prevention programs for this specific population.
Keywords: divorce; linkage; suicide; survival; violent death.