Our final step adjusted for under‐reporting of deaths by suicide. Several studies have shown that coroners in the United States may misclassify some suicides due to incomplete data or stigma, particularly in teens and minorities (Mohler & Earls, 2001; Pescosolido & Mendelsohn, 1986; Phillips, Robin, Nugent, & Idler, 2010; Rocketta, Samora, & Cobena, 2006). A similar study from the United Kingdom allowed this phenomenon to be quantified (Cooper & Milroy, 1995). The share of probable suicides that were reported as suicides (termed % reported) varied by gender and age, ranging from 46.6% to 64.5%. As we were not aware of quantitative estimate for the overall U.S. population and the United States and United Kingdom share many cultural and economic characteristics, we applied the rates of under‐reporting from Cooper & Milroy (1995) to both fatal and nonfatal suicide‐related acts.
