Objective
Developing the capability to die by suicide, and overcoming one's natural instinct of self‐preservation, is thought to occur as a result of habituation to the fear and pain surrounding ...suicide. However, investigations of suicide capability have yet to examine whether perceived discrimination serves as a painful and provocative event that contributes to capability for suicide. The purpose of the current study was to examine the association of perceived discrimination and suicide capability for Black and White adults.
Method
The study sample included 173 Black adults (67.6% female; Mage = 23.18, SD = 5.74) and 272 White adults (60.7% female; Mage = 22.80, SD = 5.90). Participants completed a questionnaire battery that included measures of perceived discrimination, depression, and suicide ideation.
Results
Regression analyses revealed for Black adults (but not White adults), perceived discrimination was associated with an increased capability for suicide after accounting for depressive symptomatology, suicide ideation, non‐discriminatory painful and provocative events experienced, age, and gender (β = .226, t = 3.154, p = .002).
Conclusions
These findings provide preliminary evidence that perceived discrimination may play a role in suicide capability for Black adults and highlight the importance of considering contextual experiences when examining suicidality in underserved groups.
Objectives: This study examined the frequency and impact of traumatic events on the mental health of older African American and Black Caribbean adults. Methods: The current study used data from the ...National Survey of American Life of 1,135 African American and 426 Black Caribbean adults aged 50 and older. Analysis examined the impact of traumatic events on both positive (i.e., happiness and life satisfaction) and negative (i.e., depressive symptoms, psychological distress, and 12-month anti-depressant use) domains of mental health. Results: Findings indicate that approximately 80% of older African Americans and Black Caribbeans reported experiencing a traumatic event at some point in their lifetime. Among African Americans assaultive violence was associated with more depressive symptoms, lower levels of life satisfaction, and lower levels of happiness. This was not the case among Black Caribbeans. Conclusions: These findings provide preliminary insight in mental health outcomes for older African American and Black Caribbean adults.
•Anxiety sensitivity is positively associated with suicide ideation and elevated suicide risk.•Mindfulness is inversely associated with suicide ideation and elevated suicide risk•Anxiety sensitivity ...is directly and indirectly associated with suicide ideation and elevated suicide risk via lower levels of mindfulness.•The primary clinical implication is mindfulness’ potential utility as a tool for reducing anxious arousal and client distress among Black Americans
Anxiety sensitivity (AS), defined as the fear of anxiety-related sensations, is associated with increased risk for suicide and related behavior. However, investigations of AS have centered on primarily non-Hispanic White men and women and with limited attention to clinically relevant underlying factors.
The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine the indirect effect of AS on suicide ideation and elevated suicide risk through mindfulness in a sample of 307 Black adults (79.2% female; Mage = 22.4, SD = 5.6). Participants completed an online questionnaire battery that included measures of AS, mindfulness, suicide ideation, and elevated suicide risk.
After controlling for age and gender, results indicated that AS was directly and indirectly associated with suicide ideation and elevated suicide risk via lower levels of mindfulness.
Limitations include using a cross-sectional methodological design and exclusive reliance on self-report measures.
These findings provide preliminary insight into novel risk and protective factors that influence suicide ideation and elevated suicide risk among Black Americans.
Suicide rates among Black and Hispanic youth have been increasing over the past decade in the United States. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for suicide ideation and attempt ...among Black and Hispanic youth in the United States using intersectionality theory and minority stress theory as a framework.
Data from the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS; 2015-2019) were analyzed and delimited to include only Black and Hispanic youth.
About 37% of the subsample identified as Black and 63% of the subsample identified as Hispanic; mean age was 16 years (SE = 0.02). Weighted multivariate logistic regressions were used to explore associations between suicide ideation and attempt, depressive symptoms, bullying, dating violence, and being threatened with a weapon. Black and Hispanic youth who had depressive symptoms, experienced bullying, dating violence, or threatened with a weapon all had increased odds of having suicide ideation and suicide attempt. Hispanic youth had the higher odds of suicide ideation and attempt than Black youth. Girls in the study also had elevated odds of suicide ideation.
This study adds to the literature on risk factors of suicide in Black and Hispanic youth and bringing to awareness the gender disparities in suicide ideation and attempt among youth.
Black youth overwhelmingly experience racial discrimination (RD). Racial socialization (RS), or racial communication between families, mitigates RD stress by expanding youth coping strategies. ...Although most Black parents currently discuss racial content with their children, less is known about this RS quality. The burgeoning construct of RS competency, or the skills, confidence, and stress of RS transmission, explores these emotion-focused approaches. Drawing on the racial encounter coping appraisal and socialization theory (RECAST), the current study seeks to depict RS competency through qualitative methods. Through deductive analysis, we examined in-depth interviews from nine parents of 10- to 14-year-olds enrolled in a RS intervention with familial conversations on RD in an urban mid-Atlantic city. Overall, findings support what has been found in quantitative studies of RS competency, particularly that subfactors are related yet unique, parent’s prior experiences impact current practices, and parental concerns for children drive practices and competency. This study also unearthed findings of processes occurring in light of a contentious context for Black adolescents. To our knowledge, this is the first study to qualitatively investigate these emotional and cognitive processes inherent in RS competency, which has future implications for family interventions to disrupt the psychological impact racism exacts on Black adolescents and families.
Objective
The present study sought to better understand the characteristics of those who own firearms in the Black community; and to understand how Black firearm owners differ from nonfirearm owning ...Black individuals on a variety of variables related to safety, threat concerns, and suicide risk.
Methods
Two samples were utilized in this study. The first was a subsample of those who identified as Black from a nationally representative sample (N = 502) seeking to understand firearm ownership within the United States. The second used a subsample of those who identified as Black (N = 1086) from a representative sample from New Jersey, Minnesota, and Mississippi. Variables related to safety and threat concerns were included in the second sample.
Results
In both samples, multiple demographic variables, such as being a woman and having higher education, predicted firearm ownership. In the second sample, experiences of everyday discrimination and crime experiences were associated with firearm ownership. Additionally, Black firearm owners reported significantly more suicidal ideation than Black nonfirearm owners.
Conclusion
The findings demonstrate the unique characteristics and experiences of Black firearm owners and show that firearm ownership is associated with increased suicide risk factors for Black adults. Findings should be used to advocate for the creation of more culturally relevant suicide prevention and firearm means safety strategies.
Suicide is a leading cause of death for Black young adults. Though depression is commonly linked to increased risk for suicide, empirical literature examining the depression–suicide association and ...intrinsic buffers for this association remains limited among Black young adults. This study sought to address this gap in the literature by examining the relationship between depression and suicide ideation among Black young adults. Importantly, this study assessed the moderating role of self-acceptance, an index of how content one is with oneself. Study participants included 123 Black young adults (63.5% female, Mage = 20.91 years, SD = 2.45 years) who completed measures evaluating symptoms of depression, suicide ideation, and psychological well-being. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that self-acceptance moderated the association between depressive symptomatology and suicide ideation (β = −0.05, p < .01, 95% CI -1.01, −0.11), such that the depression–suicide ideation association was not significant for individuals who reported high levels of self-acceptance. These findings suggest that self-acceptance may be an important treatment target for interventions aimed specifically at reducing suicide vulnerability among Black young adults.
•Self-reported COVID-19 symptoms were positively associated with suicide risk.•Acculturative stress was positively associated with suicide risk.•Acculturative stress moderated the COVID-19 symptoms ...and suicide risk association.•Acculturative stress is a key social determinant of health for Latinx persons.
The impact of COVID-19 has led to a substantial economic and psychosocial burden on the Latinx population. However, few studies have evaluated how COVID-19 symptoms may exacerbate suicide risk indicators among Latinx persons, or the particular social determinants of health facilitating such detrimental effects. The present study examined the association between self-reported COVID-19 symptoms and suicide likelihood (i.e., self-reported perceived likelihood that one will attempt suicide in the future) among Latinx individuals within a timeframe involving high COVID-19 contagion before the onset of vaccine dissemination. Further, the possible moderating role of acculturative stress in the association between COVID-19 symptoms and suicide likelihood was examined. The sample included 200 Latinx participants (67.5% male, Mage = 34.67 years, SD = 9.15) who completed self-report measures on COVID-19 symptoms, suicide likelihood, acculturative stress, depressive symptoms, trauma symptoms, somatic symptoms, and general COVID-19 emotional impact. Findings indicated that self-reported COVID-19 symptoms were positively associated with suicide likelihood. Further, the association between COVID-19 symptoms and suicide likelihood was moderated by acculturative stress, such that the association was only statistically significant at mean or higher levels of acculturative stress but was not significant among participants with lower acculturative stress. The moderation effect was statistically significant after controlling for sociodemographic factors, depressive symptoms, trauma symptoms, somatic symptoms, and the general emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current findings indicate that, among Latinx individuals, acculturative stress is a key social determinant of health for marked psychological distress in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Algorithms are commonly incorporated into health care decision tools used by health systems and payers and thus affect quality of care, access, and health outcomes. Some algorithms include a ...patient's race or ethnicity among their inputs and can lead clinicians and decision-makers to make choices that vary by race and potentially affect inequities.
To inform an evidence review on the use of race- and ethnicity-based algorithms in health care by gathering public and stakeholder perspectives about the repercussions of and efforts to address algorithm-related bias.
Qualitative methods were used to analyze responses. Responses were initially open coded and then consolidated to create a codebook, with themes and subthemes identified and finalized by consensus. This qualitative study was conducted from May 4, 2021, through December 7, 2022. Forty-two organization representatives (eg, clinical professional societies, universities, government agencies, payers, and health technology organizations) and individuals responded to the request for information.
Identification of algorithms with the potential for race- and ethnicity-based biases and qualitative themes.
Forty-two respondents identified 18 algorithms currently in use with the potential for bias, including, for example, the Simple Calculated Osteoporosis Risk Estimation risk prediction tool and the risk calculator for vaginal birth after cesarean section. The 7 qualitative themes, with 31 subthemes, included the following: (1) algorithms are in widespread use and have significant repercussions, (2) bias can result from algorithms whether or not they explicitly include race, (3) clinicians and patients are often unaware of the use of algorithms and potential for bias, (4) race is a social construct used as a proxy for clinical variables, (5) there is a lack of standardization in how race and social determinants of health are collected and defined, (6) bias can be introduced at all stages of algorithm development, and (7) algorithms should be discussed as part of shared decision-making between the patient and clinician.
This qualitative study found that participants perceived widespread and increasing use of algorithms in health care and lack of oversight, potentially exacerbating racial and ethnic inequities. Increasing awareness for clinicians and patients and standardized, transparent approaches for algorithm development and implementation may be needed to address racial and ethnic biases related to algorithms.
Objectives: Perceived racial discrimination is associated with depressive symptoms for African American adults; however, insight to protective factors for racism and depression in African Americans ...is limited. While current research suggests that dispositional forgiveness is an important factor in how people perceive and cope with interpersonal transgressions, few studies have examined its role in the context of racial discrimination. The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effect of forgiveness (beyond broader internalized religiosity) on the association between perceived racial discrimination and depressive symptoms in African American adults. Method: Sample included 101 African American adults (60.2% female; Mage = 21.90 years, SD = 4.93 years) who endorsed experiences of racial discrimination. Participants completed a questionnaire battery consisting of self-report measures of perceived experiences of racial discrimination, depression, dispositional forgiveness, and intrinsic religiosity. Results: Regression analyses showed dispositional forgiveness moderated the association between perceived racial discrimination and symptoms of depression above and beyond intrinsic religiosity (β = −.05, 95% CI −.10, −.05, p < .05), such that the racial discrimination-depression association was significant for participants who reported low levels of dispositional forgiveness, but not for individuals who reported higher levels of dispositional forgiveness. Conclusions: These findings provide insight into the role of dispositional forgiveness in experiences of racial discrimination and suggest that cognitive flexibility serves as an adaptive coping strategy to experiencing discrimination.
Public Significance Statement
It has been suggested that the utilization of internal coping strategies is vital for marginalized populations that experience daily forms of overt racial discrimination. The results of this study suggest that dispositional forgiveness, a robust internal coping mechanism, can serve as an adaptive coping strategy associated with fewer depressive symptoms for African American adults who have experienced racial discrimination; this is true even after controlling for religious beliefs.
