Acculturative Stress, Perceived Discrimination, and Vulnerability to Suicide Attempts Among Emerging Adults

Abstract

Cultural factors are often neglected in studies of suicidal behavior among emerging adults. The present study examined acculturative stress and perceived discrimination as statistical predictors of a suicide attempt history among an ethnically diverse sample of 969 emerging adults, ages 18–25 (M = 18.8). Females made up 68% of the sample, and the racial/ethnic composition included Asian, Latino, Black, and White (U.S.-born and non-U.S.-born) individuals. There were no statistically significant racial/ethnic differences in endorsement of a suicide attempt history, with an overall rate of 8% in the sample. Asians participants reported higher acculturative stress than all other racial/ethnic groups, while both Asian and Black participants reported having experienced more discrimination in the previous year, compared to other groups. Logistic regression analyses suggested that familial acculturative stress was associated with 2 times higher odds of endorsing a past suicide attempt, overall. More specifically, it was associated with over 2 times higher odds among Asian participants, over 4 times higher odds among Black participants, and over 3 times higher odds among non-U.S.-born White participants, while social acculturative stress was associated with over 3 times higher odds of endorsing a past suicide attempt among Latino participants. Environmental acculturative stress was associated with decreased odds of endorsing a suicide attempt history, overall, but not when examined separately by racial/ethnic group. Perceived discrimination was associated with over 5 times higher odds of a suicide attempt, overall, and specifically was associated with over 3 times higher odds among Latino participants and over 10 times higher odds among White, U.S.-born participants. These findings suggest the importance of addressing culturally-related variables in treatment with emerging adults of racially/ethnically diverse backgrounds to reduce risk for suicidal behavior.

Measuring the effect of ethnic and non-ethnic discrimination on Europeans’ self-rated health

“…Among other factors such as differences in educational attainment, occupational status or income distribution , literature shows that discrimination has important consequences, not only on people's social lives, but also on their physical and mental health (Albert et al 2008;AlvarezGalvez and Salvador-Carulla 2013;Gee et al 2009;Gomez et al 2011;Grollman 2014;Krieger 2014;Paradies 2006;Williams et al 2008;Williams and Mohammed 2009). Recent studies indicate that those individuals who perceive themselves to be subjects of discrimination present higher probabilities of suffering health problems, especially those related to mental well-being such as depression, psychological distress, anxiety, phobias or high-risk health behaviors that tend to affect individuals' state of health (Pascoe and Smart Richman 2009;Todorova et al 2010).…”

“…Studies focused on analyzing the relationship between perceived discrimination and health have highlighted the influence of ethnic discrimination on mental and physical health outcomes, either because of racial differences or ethnicity (Gomez et al 2011;Miller et al 2009;Pascoe and Smart Richman 2009;Williams et al 2008;Williams and Mohammed 2009). While race is based on phenotype differences related to skin color, facial and physical features, ethnicity represents a broader concept that emphasizes differences in language and/or cultural tradition.…”

“…are often positively related to poor physical and mental health (Brown et al 1999). In fact, previous research has revealed that discriminated ethnic minority collectives, including those with Asian, Latin, and Black ethnic origin, are associated with greater socio-economic inequalities and poor health outcomes (Gomez et al 2011). Therefore, these groups still find significant barriers that reproduce inequality with respect to health (Nazroo 2003).…”

Social and Spiritual Dimensions as Protective Factors in the Relationship between Acculturative Stress and Subjective Well-Being among International Students in Taiwan

“…Recent research has indicated the effects of acculturative stress on various outcomes. For example, some studies in the United States indicated that acculturative stress was significantly correlated with loneliness and depression for the non-European students (Jung et al, 2007); with depression for the Chinese students (Wei, Heppner, Mallen, Ku, Liao, & Wu, 2007), and with history of suicide attempt among an ethnically diverse group of students (Gomez, Miranda, & Polanco, 2011). Revollo, Qureshi, Collazos, Valero, and Casas (2011) reported acculturative stress as a risk factor of depression and anxiety among the Latin American immigrants in Barcelona.…”

The 2012 Elliott Youth Development Lecture

“…Professor Loeber's topic, which focuses on developmental aspects of killings, is markedly new to developmental journals centered on the multidisciplinary study of adolescence. Notably, the journal, and its peers, increasingly publish research on violence with weapons (Stoddard et al 2011) as well as severe violence (Estrada-Martínez et al 2011), including suicidal behaviors (Gomez et al 2011;Jacobson et al 2011;Verona and Javadani 2011). But, extreme violence such as killings remains rarely explored in developmental journals like ours.…”