A test of Hendin's hypotheses relating suicide in Scandinavia to child-rearing orientations

Abstract

Hendin's hypotheses regarding the psychodynamic origins of the differences in suicide incidence among Denmark, Sweden, and Norway were studied by comparing responses on a Child Rearing Practices Report by 385 university students in these countries. Results lend support to Hendin's hypotheses with respect to competition, maternal authority, physical freedom and autonomy, and the use of teasing, but not with respect to tolerance for aggression, expression of affect, and dependency. The findings for Denmark and Norway are more consistent than for Sweden with Hendin's observations. Descriptions of the mother-daughter relationship were more supporting of Hendin's conjectures than descriptions of the mother-son relationship.