The intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender and the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors

The prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors across distinct intersections of race/ethnicity and gender among adolescents remains understudied. The current study seeks to address this important gap in suicide scholarship using a statewide representative sample of U.S. Florida middle school and high school adolescents. Data drawn from the 2022 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) […]

Suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic: Uncovering demographic and regional variation in the United States and associations with unemployment and depression

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened risk factors for suicide globally. Using prominent sociocultural theories of suicide, we investigated whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected suicide rates differently across demographic groups and regions in the United States of America. In Study 1, we found that after 2020 suicide rates increased especially among young Black and Alaskan Native populations. […]

Acculturation and suicide‑related risk in ethnoracially minoritized youth in the US: A scoping review and content analysis of the empirical evidence

Purpose: Among Asian-American/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latinx, and Black youth, the US born have higher risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (attempts and death-by-suicide) than first-generation migrants. Research has focused on the role of acculturation, defined as the sociocultural and psychological adaptations from navigating multiple cultural environments. Methods: Using content analysis, we conducted a scoping review on acculturation-related experiences […]

Intersectional prevalence of suicide ideation, plan, and attempt based on gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, and rurality

Importance: Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) are major public health problems, and some social groups experience disproportionate STB burden. Studies assessing STB inequities for single identities (eg, gender or sexual orientation) cannot evaluate intersectional differences and do not reflect that the causes of inequities are due to structural-level (vs individual-level) processes. Objective: To examine differences in STB […]

Heterosexism and suicidal ideation: Racial differences in the impact of social support among sexual minority adults

Background: Heterosexism has been identified as being a contributing factor of suicidality in sexual minority adults (SMA), and social support is believed to be important for mitigating these effects. Research evaluating racial/ethnic differences in suicidality among SMA is limited despite racial/ethnic minorities being at greater risk. Aims: We aimed to examine the associations between heterosexism, suicidal ideation, and […]

Acculturation and suicide‑related risk in ethnoracially minoritized youth in the US: A scoping review and content analysis of the empirical evidence

Purpose: Among Asian-American/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latinx, and Black youth, the US born have higher risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (attempts and death-by-suicide) than first-generation migrants. Research has focused on the role of acculturation, defined as the sociocultural and psychological adaptations from navigating multiple cultural environments. Methods: Using content analysis, we conducted a scoping review on acculturation-related experiences […]

Is anybody there? A longitudinal examination of help-seeking and suicidal risk among Latino, Black, and non-Hispanic white adolescents

Introduction Understanding adolescents’ and emerging adults’ help-seeking behaviors is important to curb suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB), especially among racial/ethnic minorities who have some of the highest chronic rates of STB in the United States. Learning how diverse groups of adolescents seek help during emotional crises can help us understand the stark health disparities related […]

An examination of factors contributing to the racial disparity and disproportionality of paediatric firearm-related homicide: A mixed-methods analysis using the national violent death reporting system (NVDRS)

Firearms are a leading cause of paediatric mortality in the United States. This study examines the contributing factors of racial disparity and disproportionality among paediatric firearm decedents aged 0–17 years. We used the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) to assess the individual and incident-level circumstances of paediatric firearm homicides from 2014 to 2018 in […]

Racial and ethnic differences in deaths by suicide, drug overdose, and opioid-related overdose in a national sample of military members with mild traumatic brain injury, 1999-

Objective: To examine racial and ethnic differences in suicide and drug and opioid-related overdose deaths among a population-based cohort of military service members who were diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) during military service. Design: Retrospective cohort. Setting: Military personnel receiving care within the Military Health System between 1999 and 2019. Participants: In total, 356 […]

Notes from the field: Recent changes in suicide rates, by race and ethnicity and age group United States, 2021

Suicide is a serious public health problem in the United States. After 2 consecutive years of declines in suicide (47,511 in 2019 and 45,979 in 2020), 2021 data indicate an increase in suicide to 48,183, nearly returning to the 2018  peak (48,344) with an age-adjusted rate of 14.1 suicides per 100,000 population (versus 14.2 in […]

Trends in suicide rates by race and ethnicity among members of the United States Army

Efforts were focused on identifying differences in suicide rates and time-dependent hazard rate trends, overall and within age groups, by race and ethnicity among United States Army members who returned from an index deployment (October 2007 to September 2014). This retrospective cohort study was conducted using an existing longitudinal database, the Substance Use and Psychological […]

School and electronic bullying among adolescents: Direct and indirect relationships with sadness, sleep, and suicide ideation

Introduction: Bullying is an increasing concern for education, health, and policy. Adolescence is a particularly vulnerable period for the development of depressive symptoms and suicidality following exposure to bullying. However, limited research investigating the potential impact of depressive symptoms on the bullying-suicide relationship exists. Methods: Using national data (N = 13,677) from the most recent 2019 Youth […]

Suicidal ideation across race in a justice-involved sample: An item response theory approach

Objectives Compared to community samples, rates of suicide are much higher in forensic and correctional settings, yet limited research has focused on the development and improvement of suicide assessment methods used in such contexts. Moreover, despite evidence that suicide assessment varies across Caucasians and African Americans, to our knowledge this important issue has received little […]

Health care disparities for incarcerated adults after a suicide attempt

Objective Incarcerated adults have high rates of fatal and nonfatal suicidal behaviors. Suicide prevention recommendations stress the need for the provision of health care for incarcerated adults after suicide attempts, yet prison policies and practices often focus instead on punitive responses to suicidal behaviors. Existing research is limited regarding factors that predict the provision of […]

Using natural language processing to improve suicide classification requires consideration of race

Objectives To improve the accuracy of classification of deaths of undetermined intent and to examine racial differences in misclassification. Methods We used natural language processing and statistical text analysis on restricted-access case narratives of suicides, homicides, and undetermined deaths in 37 states collected from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) (2017). We fit separate […]

Minority stressors and suicidal ideation in sexual and gender minority youth assigned female at birth: Prospective associations and racial differences

Introduction: Suicidal ideation (SI) disproportionately affects sexual and gender minority (SGM) versus cisgender/heterosexual youth, likely due to the minority stressors (MS) they face. Research has shown cross-sectional associations between SGM MS and suicidality; however, few studies have used  longitudinal data or examined racial differences in the effects of MS on SI. The current study tested […]

Suicidality, sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity: Results from a U.S. representative adolescent sample

Objective: We examined sadness/hopelessness and suicide among racial/ethnic and sexual minority youth (SMY). Methods: 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data on sadness/hopelessness and suicide were analyzed among White, Black, and Hispanic/Latino youth. Results: A main effect of sexual minority (SM) identity emerged for sadness/hopelessness, suicidal ideation, suicide plan, suicide attempts, and injurious attempts; SMY reported increased risk […]

Structural indicators of suicide: An exploration of state-level risk factors among Black and White people in the United States, 2015–2019

Purpose Death by suicide among Black people in the USA have increased by 35.6% within the past decade. Among youth under the age of 24 years old, death by suicide among Black youth have risen substantially. Researchers have found that structural inequities (e.g. educational attainment) and state-specific variables (e.g. minimum wage, incarceration rates) may increase risk […]

Examining discrepant reports of adolescents’ self-injurious thoughts and behaviors: A focus on racial and ethnic minority families

Introduction Adolescents and their parents do not always see eye to eye. This principle applies to multi-informant reports of adolescents’ self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Although prior work has revealed the presence of parent-adolescent discrepant reports, we have little insight into exactly who is most likely to display such discrepancies. To address this knowledge gap, the present investigation […]

Race, age, and lack of insurance increase risk of suicide attempt in trauma patients

Objective The overall rate of suicide between 1999 and 2017 increased by 33% in the United States. We sought to examine suicide attempts in the trauma patient population, hypothesizing that in adult trauma patients race and lack of insurance status would be predictors of suicide attempt. Method The Trauma Quality Improvement Program (2010–2016) was queried […]

Race and depressive symptoms are associated with the prevalence of adolescent suicide attempts in Hawai’i, Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2015-2017

Suicide is death caused by injuring oneself with the intent to die. According to the 2017 National Vital Statistics report, suicide was the second leading cause of death for adolescents 10-24 years old, accounting for 19.2% of deaths in that age group. Aggregated 2015-2017 Hawai‘i Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data from 12 120 respondents […]

Exploration of race and ethnicity, sex, sport-related concussion, depression history, and suicide attempts in US youth

Importance  Racial, ethnic, and sex disparities for concussion incidence and suicide attempts in youth have been reported, but data on the interaction of these variables in a large national data set are lacking. Understanding how race and ethnicity interact with sex and concussion to influence suicide attempts could yield critical information on the sociocultural impact of […]

Sleep health disparities: A promising target for preventing suicide in black youth?

Youth suicide is an urgent public health concern, particularly for Black youth, among whom suicide attempts and death have increased faster than any other racial or ethnic group. Ideal foci for suicide prevention interventions are risk factors that are malleable, dynamic, and proximal. Studies consistently identify poor sleep health as a risk factor for suicidal […]