Ian Rockett, PhD, MA, MPH

Professor Emeritus

Organization:

West Virginia University School of Public Health

Department:

Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Classification:

Faculty

• MA, Western University
• PhD, Brown University
• MPH, Harvard University
• BA, University of Western Australia

Book

Ian Rockett (in press). Hidden Suicides and Fatal Overdoses. A Forward Path. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

My forthcoming book confronts the persistent crisis of suicide misclassification in the United States. Various institutional, cultural, and political forces distort suicide statistics and mask the full scale of self-inflicted injury mortality. I propose a more inclusive and accurate framework for measuring fatal self-injury, one that challenges the sufficiency of official suicide counts and the narrow definitions that underpin them.
                                                                                        
At the heart of this problem is a web of stigma, religious taboos, familial denial and shame, punitive insurance policies, a prolonged opioid epidemic, underfunded forensic and emergency health care systems, and disparities in access to physical and mental health care. These forces not only distort epidemiologic data, they also hinder the development of effective public health interventions. The book documents how these systemic failures compromise a broader understanding of who is at risk and situates suicide undercounting within the broader context of health inequity and forensic fragmentation, tracing profound implications for research, policy, prevention, and treatment. A mix of empirical data and personal reflections underscore the emotional gravity behind the data and the complex interplay between pain and social context.
 
This book details how and why societies fail to recognize and reckon with suicide. I invite readers in public health, clinical medicine, forensics, policy, and beyond to confront the fragile scaffolding of official suicide records—and to consider what more honest accounting might make possible. Written as an optimistic cautionary tale, the book’s lessons have relevance across the globe in settings inside and outside the suicide domain.

The author is Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at West Virginia University and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at The University of Rochester.

Articles

Peng, S., Yang, T., Rockett, I.R.H. (2024). Changing Trends of Excess Self-protective Behavior, and Association with Belief in Prevention Myths During the COVID-19 Epidemic in China: A Panel Study. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 18:e280. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2024.292. PMID: 39568280

Rockett, I.R.H., Ali, B., Caine, E.D., Shepard, D.S., Banerjee, A., Nolte, K.B., Connery, H.S., Larkin, G.L., Stack, S., White, F.M.M., Jia, H., Cossman, J.S., Feinberg, J., Stover, A.N., Miller, T.R. (2023). Escalating Costs of Self-injury Mortality in the 21st Century United States: An Interstate Observational Study. BMC Public Health. 23(1):285. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15188-8. PMID: 36755229

Pei, T., Barnett, P., Yang, T., Rockett, I.R.H., Zhang, W. (2023). Real-world, Anti-tobacco Environmental Impact upon Price-induced Smoking Reduction among Urban Chinese Men: Evidence from China's 2015 Cigarette Tax Increase. Tobacco Induced Diseases. 21:124. doi: 10.18332/tid/170596. PMID: 37808587 

Peng, S., Yang, T., Zhang, W., Cottrell, R.R., Rockett, I.R.H. (2023). Contextual Influences on Deliberate Self-harm among Chinese University Undergraduates: A Representative Nationwide Study. Journal of Affective Disorders. 335:371-76.doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.05.010. PMID: 37169084

Stover, A.N., Rockett, I.R.H., Smith, G.S., LeMasters, T., Scott, V.G., Kelly, K.M., Winstanley, E.L. (2022). Distinguishing Clinical Factors Associated with Unintentional Overdose, Suicidal Ideation, and Attempted Suicide among Opioid Use Disorder In-patients. Journal of Psychiatric Research. 153:245-53. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.06.039 PMID: 35841821

Connery, H.S., Weiss, R.D., Griffin, M.L., Trinh, C.D., Kim, J., Rockett, I.R.H., McHugh, R.K. (2022). Suicidal Motivations among Opioid Overdose Survivors: Replication and Extension. Drug and Alcohol Dependence;235:109437. Epub ahead of print: April 2. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109437 PMID: 35427980

Rahman, N., Mozer, R., McHugh, R.K., Rockett, I.R.H. Chow, C., Vaughan, G. (2022). Using Natural Language Processing to Improve Suicide Classification Requires Consideration of Race. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. Epub ahead of print: April 6. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12862 PMID: 35384040

Rockett, I.R.H., Jia H., Ali, B., Banerjee, A., Connery, H.S., Nolte, K.B., Miller, T., White, F.M.M., DiGregorio B.D.; Larkin, G.L., Stack, S., Kolves, K., McHugh, R.K., Lulla, V.O., Cossman, J.S., D’Onofrio, G., Hendricks, B., Nestadt, P.S., Berry, J.H., D’Onofrio, G., Caine, E.D. (2022) Association of State Social and Environmental Factors with Rates of Self-injury Mortality and Suicide in the United States. Jama Network Open; 5(2): e2146591. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.46591 PMID: 35138401 

Ali, B., Rockett, I.R.H., Miller, T.R., Leonardo, J.(2022) Racial/Ethnic Differentials in Preceding Circumstances of Suicide and Potential Suicide Misclassification Among U.S. Adolescents. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Disparities; 9(1):296-304. doi: 10.1007/s40615-020-00957-7 PMID: 33415703 

Wu, D, Rockett, I.R.H., Yang, T., Yang, X.Y., Wang, M., Jiao, C.(2021)  Health Beliefs, Perceived Uncertainty, and Behavioral Responses during the COVID-19 Outbreak in China: Findings from a Convenience Sample. American Journal of Health Promotion:8901171211004249. doi: 10.1177/08901171211004249. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33787350

Yang, Y., Yang, X.Y., Yang, T., He, W., Peng, S., Rockett, I.R.H. (2021)Social Deprivation and Secondhand Smoke Exposure among Urban Male Residents: A Nationwide Study in China. Tobacco Induced Diseases: 21 https://doi.org/10.18332/tid/132290 PMID: 33767605

Stack, S., Rockett, I.R.H.(2021) Social Distancing Predicts Suicide Rates: Analysis of the 1918 Flu Pandemic in 43 Large Cities, Research Note. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 51:833-835. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106498. PMID: 33565144

Rockett, I.R.H., Caine, E.D., Connery, H.S. (2021) Fatal self-injury in the United States, 1999-2018: Unmasking a National Mental Health Crisis—Authors’ Reply. EClinicalMedicine 34; 100823 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100823 PMID: 33855287

Rockett, I.R.H., Caine, E.D., Banerjee, A., Ali, B., Miller, T., Connery, H.S., Lulla, V.O., Nolte, K.B., Larkin, G.L., Stack, S., Hendricks, B., White, F.M.M., Greenfield, S.F., McHugh, R.K., Bohnert, A.S.B., Cossman, J.S., D’Onofrio, G., Nelson, L.S., Nestadt, P.S., Berry, J.H., Jia, H. (2021)Fatal Self-Injury in the United States, 1999-2018: Unmasking a National Mental Health Crisis. EClinicalMedicine 32 100741. https://doi:16/j.eclinm.2021.100741 PMID: 33681743 

Rockett, I.R.H., Caine, E.D., Connery, H.S., Nolte, K.B.(2021) Overcoming the Limitations of “Accident” as a Manner of Death for Drug Overdose Mortality: Case for a Death Certificate Checkbox. Injury Prevention; 27(4):375-378. doi: 10.1136/injuryprev-2020-043830 PMID: 32917742 

Kolves, K., Sisask, M., Rockett, I.R.H. (2021) Observational Studies in Suicide Research. Pp. 65-92 in K. Kolves, M. Sisask, P. Värnik, A. Värnik, D. de Leo (Eds), Advancing Suicide Research Methods. Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe, 

Jiang, S., Yang, T., Bullen, C., Chen, J., Yu, L., Peng, S., Rockett, I.R.H. (2021)Real-world Unassisted Quit Success and Related Contextual Factors: A Population-Based Study of Chinese Male Smokers. Tobacco Control 30(5):498-504. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2019-055594 PMID: 32675250

Wu, D., Yang, T., Rockett, I.R.H., Yu, L., Peng, S., Jiang, S. (2021) Uncertainty Stress, Social Capital and Suicidal Ideation among Chinese Medical Students: Findings from a 22-Universities Survey. Journal of Health Psychology 26(2):214-225. doi: 10.1177/1359105318805820 PMID: 30318917

Rockett, I.R.H., Caine, E.D., Connery, H.S., Nolte, K.B., Nestadt, P.S., Nelson, L.S., Jia, H. (2020). Unrecognised Self-injury Mortality (SIM) Trends among Racial/Ethnic Minorities and Women in the USA. Injury Prevention; 26(5):439-447. doi: 10.1136/injuryprev-2019-043371 PMID: 31551367

Stover, A.N., Rockett, I.R.H., Smith, G.S., Le Masters, T., Scott, V.G., Kelly, K.M., Winstanley, E.L. (2020). Feasibility and Acceptability of Safety Screening Among Patients Receiving Addiction Treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 2020; 117: Epub ahead of print: August 3. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2020.108092. PMID: 32811626

Miller, T.R., Swedler, D.I., Lawrence, B.A., Ali, B., Rockett, I.R.H., Carlson, N.N., Leonardo, J. (2020). Incidence and Lethality of Suicidal Overdoses by Drug Class JAMA Network Open. March 2;3(3): e200607. doi: 10.1001/ jamanetworkopen.2020.0607. PMID: 32202643

Rockett, I.R.H., Caine, E.D. (2020). Reconciling Suicides with “Accidental” Drug-intoxication Deaths: A Behaviorally-based Definition of Self-injury Mortality. American Journal of Public Health 110(1): 73-74. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2019.305422. PMID: 31800285

Peng, S., Yang, T., Zhang, W., Rockett, I.R.H. (2019). Life Stress and Uncertainty Stress. Which Is More Associated with Unintentional Injury? Psychology, Medicine & Health Epub ahead of print: November 5. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2019. 1687913 PMID: 31684773

Peng, S., Y. Yang, Y., Rockett, I.R.H. (2019). A Typology of Social Capital and Its Mixed Blessing for Suicidal Ideation: A Multilevel Study of College Students. Social Science & Medicine. Epub ahead of print: October 22. doi.org/10.1016/j. socscimed.2019. 112640 PMID: 31665656

Ali, B., Rockett, I., Miller, T. (2019). Variable Circumstances of Suicide among Racial/Ethnic Groups by Sex and Age: A National Violent-Death Reporting System Analysis. Archives of Suicide Research. Epub ahead of print: September 20:1-13. doi: 10.1080/13811118.2019.1661894. PMID: 31538548

Koech, W.A., Rudisill, T.M., Rockett, I.R.H. (2019). Maternal Characteristics associated with Injury-related Infant Death in West Virginia, 2010-2014. PLoS One. 2019 August 12;14(8):e0220801. PMID: 31404105

Niederkrotenthaler, T., Stack, S., Till, B., Sinyor, M., Pirkis, J., Garcia, D., Rockett, I.R.H., Tran, U.S. (2019). Association of Increased Youth Suicides in the United States with the Release of 13 Reasons Why. JAMA Psychiatry 76(9):933-940. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0922.2019 PMID: 31141094

Connery, H.S., Taghian, N., Kim, J., Griffin, M., Rockett, I.R.H., Weiss, R.D., McHugh, K.R. (2019). Suicidal Motivations Reported by Opioid Overdose Survivors: A Cross-sectional Study of Adults with Opioid Use Disorder. Drug and Alcohol Dependence Epub ahead of print: December 1; 205: 107612. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107612. PMID: 31627077

Rockett, I.R.H., Caine, E.D., Connery, H.S., Greenfield, S.F. (2018). Mortality in the United States from Self-Injury surpasses Diabetes: A Prevention Imperative. Injury Prevention. Aug 27 [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 30150252 https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/injuryprev/early/2018/08/08/injuryprev-2018-042889.full.pdf

Rockett, I.R.H., Connery, H.S. (2018). Variation in Deaths from Intentional Injury and Substance Use. JAMA. 320(6): 601.  PMID: 30120467

Rockett, I.R.H., Caine, E.D., Stack, S., Connery, H.S., Nolte, K.B., Lilly, C.L., Miller, T.R., Nelson, L.S., Putnam, S.L., Nestadt, P.S., Jia, H. (2018). Method Overtness, Forensic Autopsy, and the Evidentiary Suicide Note: A Multilevel National Violent Death Reporting System Analysis. PLoS One: 13(5): e0197805. PMID: 29787584 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.019780

Rockett, I.R.H., Caine, E.D., Connery, H.S., D'Onofrio, G., Gunnell, D.J., Miller, T.R., Nolte, K.B., Kaplan, M.S., Kapusta, N.D., Lilly, C.L., Nelson, L.S., Putnam, S.L., Stack, S., Värnik, P., Webster, L.R., Jia, H. (2018). Discerning Suicide in Drug Intoxication Deaths: Paucity and Primacy of Suicide Notes and Psychiatric History. PLoS One: 13(1), e0190200. PMID: 29320540 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190200&type=printable

Stack, S., Rockett, I.R.H. (2018). Do Suicide Note Writers Represent Suicides? Analysis of the National Violent Death Reporting System. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior: 48(1), 12-20. PMID: 27982463

Rockett, I.R.H., Jiang, S., Yang, Q., Yang, T., Yang, X.Y., Peng, S., Yu, L. (2017). Prevalence and Regional Correlates of Road Traffic Injury among Chinese Urban Residents: A 21-city Population-based Study. Traffic Injury Prevention: 18(6), 623-630. PMID: 28379728

Stone D.M., Holland, K.M., Bartholow, B., Logan, J., LiKamWa McIntosh, W., Trudeau, A., Rockett, I.R.H. (2017). Deciphering Suicide and Other Manners of Death Associated with Drug Intoxication: A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Consultation Meeting Summary. American Journal of Public Health: 107(8), 1233-1239. PMID: 28640689 http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303863

Rockett, I.R.H. (2017). The Gender Suicide Gap and Differential Misclassification: A Research Autobiography. International Review of Modern Sociology: 43(1), 5-32. http://www.serialsjournals.com/serialjournalmanager/pdf/1487679634.pdf

Miller, T.R., Lawrence, B.A., Hendrie, D., Randall, S., Rockett, I.R.H., Spicer, R. (2017). Perils of Police Action: A Cautionary Tale from Health Datasets. Injury Prevention: 23(1), 27-32. PMID: 27457242

Rockett, I.R.H., Lilly, C.L., Jia, H., Larkin, G.L., Miller, T.R., Nelson, L.S., Nolte, K.B., Putnam, S.L., Smith, G.S., Caine, E.D. (2016). Self-Injury Mortality in the United States in the Early 21st Century: A Comparison with Proximally Ranked Diseases. JAMA Psychiatry: 73(10), 1072-1081. PMID: 27556270

Yang, T., Peng, S., Yu, L., Jiang, S., Stroub, W., Cottrell, R., Rockett, I.R.H. (2016). Chinese Smokers' Behavioral Response toward Cigarette Price: Individual and Regional Correlates. Tobacco Induced Diseases: Apr 5;14:13. doi: 10.1186/s12971-016-0078-7. PMID: 27051357 https://tobaccoinduceddiseases.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12971-016-0078-7?site=tobaccoinduceddiseases.biomedcentral.com

Skinner, R., McFaull, S., Rhodes, A.E., Bowes, M., Rockett, I.R.H. (2016). Suicide in Canada: Is Poisoning Misclassification an Issue? Canadian Journal of Psychiatry: 61(7), 405-412.

Wu, D., Rockett, I.R.H., Yang, T., Feng, X., Jiang, S., Yu, L.  (2016). Deliberate Self-Harm among Chinese Medical Students: A Population-Based Study. Journal of Affective Disorders: 202, 137-144. PMID: 27262635

Rockett, I.R.H., Hobbs, G.R., Wu, D., Jia, H., Nolte, K.B., Smith, G.S., Putnam, S.L., Caine, E.D. (2015). Correction: Variable Classification of Drug-Intoxication Suicides across US States: A Partial Artifact of Forensics? PLoS One: September 3, 10(9): e0137933. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0137933 PMID: 26335245 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0137933

Rockett, I.R.H., Hobbs, G.R., Wu, D., Jia, H., Nolte, K.B., Smith, G.S., Putnam, S.L., Caine, E.D. (2015). Variable Classification of Drug-Intoxication Suicides across US States: A Partial Artifact of Forensics? PLoS One: August 21, 10(8), doi: 10.1371/journal.pone. 0135296  PMID: 26295155 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135296

Rockett, I.R.H., Caine, E.D. (2015). Self-injury is the Eighth Leading Cause of Death in the United States: It is Time to Pay Attention. JAMA Psychiatry: 72(11), 1069-1070. PMID: 26374953

Yang, T., Jiang, S., Feng, X., Wei, L., Xian, H., Cottrell, R.R., Rockett I.R.H. (2015). Household Smoking Restrictions among Urban Residents in China: Individual and Regional Influences. International Journal of Public Health: 60(4), 479-486. PMID: 25838120

Yang, T., Barnett, R., Rockett, I.R.H., Yang, X.Y., Wu, D., Zheng, W., Li, L. (2015). The Impact of Regional Economic Reliance on the Tobacco Industry on Current Smoking in China.  Health & Place: 33, 159-171. PMID: 25834992 

Vyssoki, B., Gleiss, A., Rockett, I.R.H., Hackl, M., Leitner, B., Sonneck, G., Kapusta, N.D. (2015). Suicide among 915,303 Austrian Cancer Patients: Who is at risk? Journal of Affective Disorders: 175, 287-291. PMID: 25661393

Bhandari, R., Kelley, G.A., Hartley, T.A., Rockett, I.R.H. (2014). Metabolic Syndrome is associated with increased Breast Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. International Journal of Breast Cancer: 29 December, 2014 (13 pages). PMID: 25653879 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijbc/contents/

Rockett, I.R.H., Kapusta, N.D., Coben, J.H. (2014). Beyond Suicide: Action Needed to Improve Self-Injury Mortality Accounting. JAMA Psychiatry: 71(3), 231-232. PMID: 24382750 http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1790916

Rockett, I.R.H., Smith, G.S., Caine, E.D., Kapusta, N.D., Hanzlick, R.L., Larkin, G.L., Naylor, C.P.E., Nolte, K.B., Miller, T.R., Putnam, S.L., De Leo, D., Kleinig, J., Stack, S., Todd, K.H., Fraser, D.W. (2014). Confronting Death from Drug Self-Intoxication (DDSI): Prevention through a Better Definition. American Journal of Public Health: 104(12), e49-e55. PMID: 25320874 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4232143/pdf/AJPH.2014.302244.pdf

Rockett, I.R.H., Kapusta, N.D. Measuring Suicide. (2014). In E. Stier Adler and R.D. Clark (Eds.). An Invitation to Social Research: How It’s Done (pp. 141-146). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Blüml, V., Regier, M.D., Hlavin, G., Rockett, I.R.H., König, F., Vyssoki, B., Bschor, T., Kapusta, N.D.  (2013). Lithium in the Public Water Supply and Suicide Mortality in Texas. Journal of Psychiatric Research: 47(3), 407-411. PMID: 23312137

Yang, T., Abdullah, A.S., Rockett, I.R.H., Lin, Y., Guo, W., Wu, D., Li, M. (2013). Public Place Smokefree Regulations, and Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Related Beliefs, Awareness, Attitudes, and Practices among Chinese Urban Residents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: 10(6), 2370-2383. PMID: 23749054 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3717741/pdf/ijerph-10-02370.pdf

Rockett, I.R.H., Regier, M.D., Kapusta, N.D., Coben, J.H., Miller, T.R., Hanzlick, R.L., Todd, K.H., Sattin, R.W., Kennedy, L.W., Kleinig, J., Smith, G.S. (2012). Leading Causes of Unintentional and Intentional Injury Mortality: United States, 2000-2009. American Journal of Public Health: 102(11), e84-e92. PMID: 22994256 http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2012.300960

Cui, X., Rockett, I.R.H., Yang, T., Cao, R. (2012). Work Stress, Life Stress, and Smoking among Rural-Urban Migrant Workers in China. BMC Public Health: 12, 979. PMID: 23151299 http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2458-12-979.pdf

Yang, T., Zhang, W., Cottrell, R.R., Rockett, I.R.H. (2012). Comparative Stress Levels among Residents in Three Chinese Provincial Capitals, 2001 and 2008. PLoS One: 7(11), e48971. PMID: 23152832  http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0048971

Höfer, P., Rockett, I.R.H., Värnik, P., Etzersdorfer, E., Kapusta, N.D. (2012). Forty Years of Increasing Suicide Mortality in Poland: Undercounting Amidst a Hanging Epidemic? BMC Public Health: 12, 644. PMID: 22883342 http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2458-12-644.pdf

Yang, T., Rockett, I.R.H., Li, M., Xu, X., Gu, Y. (2012). Tobacco Advertising, Environmental Smoking Bans, and Smoking in Chinese Urban Areas. Drug and Alcohol Dependence: 124(1-2), 121-127. PMID: 22261180

Yang, T., Rockett, I.R.H., Lv, Q., Cottrell, R.R. (2012). Stress Status and Related Characteristics among Urban Residents: A Six-Province Capital Cities Study in China. PLoS One: 7(1), e30521.  PMID: 22276209 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/asset?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0030521.PDF

Yang, T., Xu, X., Li, M., Rockett, I.R.H., Zhu, W., Ellison-Barnes, A. (2012). Mental Health Status and Related Characteristics of Chinese Male Rural-Urban Migrant Workers. Community Mental Health Journal: 48(3), 342-351. PMID: 21394472

Rockett, I.R.H., Kapusta, N.D., Bhandari, R. (2011). Suicide Misclassification in an International Context: Revisitation and Update. Suicidology Online: 2, 48-61. http://www.suicidology-online.com/pdf/SOL-2011-2-48-61.pdf

Kapusta, N.D., Tran, U.S., Rockett, I.R.H., De Leo, D., Naylor, C.P.E., Niederkrotenthaler, T., Voracek, M., Etzersdorfer, E., Sonneck, G. (2011). Declining Autopsy Rates and Suicide Misclassification: A Cross-National Analysis of 35 Countries. Archives of General Psychiatry: 68(10), 1050-1057. PMID: 21646567 http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/ 68/10/1050

Wu, J., Yang, T., Xu, X., Rockett, I.R.H., Xing, R., Karalic, S., Li, Y., Zhang, Y. (2011). Nicotine Dependence among Rural-Urban Migrants in China. BMC Public Health: 10; 11: 296. PMID: 21569258 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3120682/pdf/1471-2458-11-296.pdf

Yang, T., Xu, X., Rockett, I.R.H., Guo, W., Zhou, H. (2011). Effects of Household, Workplace, and Public Place Smoking Restrictions on Smoking Cessation. Health & Place: 17(4), 954-960. PMID: 21550837

T. Yang, T., Shiffman, S., Rockett, I.R.H., Cui, X., Cao, R. (2011). Nicotine Dependence among Chinese City Dwellers: A Population-based Cross-Sectional Study. Nicotine & Tobacco Research: 13(7), 556-564. PMID: 21454911

Yang, T., Abdullah, A.S., Rockett, I.R.H., Li, M., Zhou, Y., Ma, J., Ji, H., Zheng, J., Wang, L. (2011). Assessment of Tobacco Control Advocacy Behavioral Capacity among Students at Schools of Public Health in China. Tobacco Control: 20(1), 20-25. PMID: 20861004

Rockett, I.R.H. (2010). Counting Suicides and Making Suicide Count as a Public Health Problem. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention: 31(5), 227-230. PMID: 21134841 http://www.iasp.info/pdf/journal/2010_rockett_counting_suicides.pdf

Rockett, I.R.H. (2010). Descriptive Epidemiology for Public Health Professionals: Part 4. Sudanese Journal of Public Health: 5(1), 41-47. http://www.sjph.net.sd/files/vol5i2/SJPH-vol5i1-p41-47.pdf

Yang, T., Rockett, I.R.H., Wu, Y., Chen, W.W., Lu, Z. (2010). Agreement among Multiple Measures of Self-Reported Smoking Status in Chinese Urban Residents. Public Health: 124; 2010: 437-443. PMID: 20691457

Yang, T., Abdullah, A.S.M., Wu, J., Beard, Zheng, J., Rockett, I.R.H. (2010). Nicotine Dependence among Rural Chinese Males. Journal of Addictions Nursing: 21 (2-3), 123-129.

Rockett, I.R.H., Hobbs, G.R., De Leo, D., Stack, S., Ducatman, A.M., Frost, J.L., Kapusta, N.D., Walker, R.L. (2010). Suicide and Unintentional Poisoning Mortality Trends in the United States, 1987-2006: Two Unrelated Phenomena? BMC Public Health: 10, 705. PMID: 21083903 http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2458-10-705.pdf

Rockett, I.R.H., Wang, S., Stack, S., De Leo, D., Frost, J.L., Ducatman, A.M., Walker, R.L., Kapusta, N.D. (2010). Race/Ethnicity and Potential Suicide Misclassification: Window on a Minority Suicide Paradox? BMC Psychiatry: 10, 35. PMID: 20482844 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2891687/pdf/1471-244X-10-35.pdf

Luo, J., Qu, Z., Rockett, I.R.H., Zhang, X. (2010). Employment Status and Self-Rated Health in Northwestern China.  Public Health: 124 (3), 174-179. PMID: 20223488

Teaching

Graduate courses taught include Public Health Epidemiology, Advanced Epidemiology, Epidemiology of Injury and Violence, Mortality and Survival, Research Design and Measurement, Population and Economic Development, and Health and Society.

Selected Media Reports

http://www.newsweek.com/2013/05/22/why-suicide-has-become-epidemic-and-what-we-can-do-help-237434.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-suicide-rates-idUSKCN1112DG

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/how-many-drug-overdoses-are-actually-suicides

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/science/drug-overdoses-propel-rise-in-mortality-rates-of-young-whites.html

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20151004/GZ01/151009774/1101

http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/30112/20150917/suicide-death-from-intentional-self-injury-greatly-underestimated-in-u-s.htm

https://www.ncnp.org/journal-of-medicine/1251-suicide-now-kills-more-people-than-car-crashes.html

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/09/20/suicide-now-kills-more-americans-than-car-crashes-study

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2009/04/17/death-certificates-incomplete-for-suicide-victims.html

Injury Control Research Center, West Virginia University; Suicide Research Group, Medical University of Vienna, Austria; Tobacco Control Research Center, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

The primary focus of Dr. Rockett’s research is the nexus between suicide determination and classification, and substance misuse and abuse. With multidisciplinary collaborators, he developed a new concept, labeled "death from drug self-intoxication," or DDSI, which aims to circumvent problems for researchers, preventionists and policymakers arising from the undercounting of poisoning suicides and mischaracterization of most opioid and other drug-intoxication deaths as “accidents.” This work has facilitated their estimates of the true national toll attributable to suicide and other self-injury mortality (SIM). It is also being translated for clinicians.

Dr. Rockett is collaborating on European suicide studies and in population-based survey research on tobacco use, stress and motor vehicular injury in China. His past research has included statewide hospital emergency department studies of motor vehicular trauma and unmet substance abuse treatment need, respectively, and international studies of injury mortality and suicide data quality.