Ethnic Minorities

African Americans

Miscellaneous facts:
.pdf found at http://wdh.state.wy.us/Media.aspx?mediaId=1035
  • As of 2002, suicide was the third leading cause of death in AA youth, 15-24 years old (following homicide and accidents), at a rate of 6.5 per 100,000.
  • In 2002, 84% of suicides in AA community were men. As with all races, women attempted more, but men completed more.
    • AA male youth’s rates: 11 per 100,000
    • AA female youth’s rates: 1.7 per 100,000 (lowest for all racial groups)
    • AA male youth are more than 6 times more likely to commit suicide than AA female youth
  • 63% used a firearm (67% of male AA youth and 40% of female AA youth)
Symptoms:
  • African Americans are less likely to use drugs during a suicide crisis
  • In African Americans behavioral component of depression is more pronounced
  • Some suicidal AA youth are not as likely to self-report depression or suicidal ideation as Caucasian youth (Gibbs, 1997)
Protective factors (Gibbs, 1997; Utsey et al., 2007):
  • Religiosity: possibly the most important protective factor for AA youth
  • Social support from family and friends
  • Elder advice
Other helpful measures: speak with your pastor, spiritual leader, or other trusted counselor; surround yourself with supportive friends and family.
Asian Americans
The college student subgroup of Asian Americans has relatively high rates of suicide and suicide attempts compared with the rest of the nation (Morian, 2008). College-aged (15-24) Asian American women have the highest rates of all demographics in the US.

Asian Americans experiencing a high degree of interpersonal familial conflict have a three-fold greater risk of attempting suicide when compared with Asian Americans overall. The risk is tripled even among those who have never had a diagnosis of depression (Morian, 2008).

“Over 70% of the Asian American population is foreign born (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004), and adjustment to U.S. cultures and subsequent social support has implications in a variety of social and psychological areas, including depression and suicide” (Leong, Leach, Yeh, & Chou, 2007, p. 421).

“Acculturation is of particular importance due to its strong association with depression among Asians and Asian Americans, and it is also a well-documented mediator and predictor of suicidal behavior and ideation” (Leong, Leach, Yeh, & Chou, 2007, p. 424).

Research consistently indicates a strong link between low acculturation and high suicidal thoughts and behaviors. That is, the less acculturated an Asian American youth is, the less age-group social support and greater strain in social interactions they have. (It’s called “acculturative stress.”) Research links these things to suicidal thoughts and behaviors in this population, particularly when combined with familial conflict. (Leong, Leach, Yeh, & Chou, 2007).

Among Asian international students in the US, “suicidal ideation was found to be related to higher levels of depressive symptoms and hopelessness, yet problem-solving skills and social support mediated life stress, depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation” (Leong, Leach, Yeh, & Chou, 2007, p. 427).

Communal, cooperative culture; really big focus on social support as a protective factor.

Shame, a desire to “save face,” and protecting the family’s honor may deter help seeking.

Latino/as
“Latino/a youth are at a greater risk of suicide behavior than other ethnic groups” (Duarté-Vélez & Bernal, 2007, p. 435).

“Hispanic adolescents have shown a tendency to be at greater risk for depressive symptoms, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts than others groups of adolescents in the United States” (Duarté-Vélez & Bernal, 2007, p. 437).

Tensions between acculturation pressures and familismo (values of collectivism, interdependence, and family loyalty) contribute to stress for Latino/a youth (Duarté-Vélez & Bernal, 2007).

US-born Latinos (mostly Mexican) in a sample from CA, ages 15-34, were found to be at greater risk for suicide completion than their foreign-born counterparts (Duarté-Vélez & Bernal, 2007).

Another study comparing over 1000 youth in Texas border towns and over 1000 Mexican-border towns found that “Mexican Americans were more likely to report elevated scores for depression (48.08% vs. 39.41%), illicit drugs (21% vs. 4.9%), and suicide ideation (23.4%vs. 11.57%) than Mexicans” (Swanson et al., 1992 as cited in Duarté-Vélez & Bernal, 2007).

Combined drug use and depressive symptoms in the Mexican Americans (above) was associated with increased risk for suicidal ideation.

Acculturative stress is another risk factor.