Suicidal ideation among racial/ethnic minorities: Moderating effects of rumination and depressive symptoms.

Abstract

Among emerging adults and college students, racial and ethnic minorities experience greater risk for suicidal ideation and behavior than their White counterparts. Research has identified numerous cognitive risk factors for suicidal ideation. However, they have not been well studied among racial and ethnic minorities. The present study examined the association between these factors (brooding rumination, reflective rumination, hopelessness, and depressive symptoms) and suicidal ideation, among 690 Black, Latino, and biracial college students. Among all groups, hopelessness was positively associated with suicidal ideation. Brooding was negatively associated with suicidal ideation, after adjusting for reflection and hopelessness, although only at low levels of depressive symptoms. Black race/ethnicity and Latino race/ethnicity, compared with biracial race/ethnicity, each separately interacted with reflection to predict lower levels of suicidal ideation at moderate to high levels of reflection. Furthermore, Latino race/ethnicity, compared with biracial race/ethnicity, interacted with both reflection and depressive symptoms, such that reflection was negatively associated with suicidal ideation among Latino individuals reporting depressive symptoms above the 39th percentile. Biracial race/ethnicity, compared with monoracial race/ethnicity, also interacted with reflection and depressive symptoms, with reflection associated with greater amounts of suicidal ideation at depressive symptom levels above the 39th percentile. Our findings suggest reflective rumination differentially affects racial and ethnic groups and should be considered in conjunction with depressive symptoms among Latino and biracial individuals in suicide risk assessment and treatment.

Perceived Discrimination and Suicide Ideation: Moderating Roles of Anxiety Symptoms and Ethnic Identity among Asian American, African American, and Hispanic Emerging Adults

“…Total scores range from 0 to 63, with higher scores indicating greater depression. This measure has demonstrated good reliability in ethnically diverse samples (α ranges from .84 to .94; Cheref, Lane, Polanco‐Roman, Gadol, & Miranda, ; Walker et al., ). Internal consistency reliability was good in this sample (α = .91).…”

Sociocultural Influences on the Association Between Negative Romantic Experiences and Psychological Maladjustment in Mexican Adolescents

“…Mexican adolescents suffer from a high prevalence of untreated mental health problems (Benjet, Borges, Medina‐Mora, Zambrano, & Aguilar‐Gaxiola, ), which often leads to high rates of suicidal ideation, substance abuse, and risky behaviors (Cheref et al., ; Waller et al., ). In adolescence, negative romantic experiences (i.e., rejection, betrayal, jealousy, conflict, lack of intimacy) have been linked to psychological maladjustment.…”

Alcohol use severity and depressive symptoms among late adolescent Hispanics: Testing associations of acculturation and enculturation in a bicultural transaction model

“…This period is also marked by heavy drinking (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2006) and elevated depressive symptoms (Rudolph, 2009). Further, heavy drinking and elevated depressive symptoms are notably prevalent among late adolescent Hispanics (Cheref, Lane, Polanco-Roman, Gadol, & Miranda, 2014; Venegas, Cooper, Naylor, Hanson, & Blow, 2012), due in part to ethnocultural orientation (Abraído-Lanza, Armbrister, Flórez, & Aguirre, 2006). …”