Uncovering the Mystery: Factors of African American Suicide

Willis, Lauren; Coombs, David W.; Drentea, Patricia; Cockerham, William C.

doi:10.1521/suli.33.4.412.25230

Cited by 84 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 68 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Clearly, African American adolescents are matched on suicide vulnerability factors with White adolescents in the present sample of acutely suicidal and psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. These findings confound previous research suggesting that socio-demographic and psychopathology factors differentiate the suicide risk profiles for different ethnic groups (Castle et al, 2004;Willis, Coombs, Drentea, & Cockerham, 2003). Although present findings may, to some extent, reflect the characteristics of an inpatient sample, they also suggest that prevention and treatment approaches proven effective with majority adolescents might be applicable to this population.…”

Section: Racial Similarity In Levels Of Risk Factorscontrasting

confidence: 96%

Impact of Familial Factors and Psychopathology on Suicidality Among African American Adolescents

Joe

Clarke

Ivey

et al. 2007

Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARYRacial differences in familial factors, psychopathology, perceptions of social support, and socioeconomic status were examined in a matched sample of African American and White suicidal adolescents (N = 90) during a psychiatric hospitalization. Exploratory analyses suggest that significant differences were found in family support and its association with psychopathology, but most noteworthy were the many similarities between the two adolescent groups. The results presented in this study represent new knowledge on the characteristics of African-American adolescents at high risk of suicidal behavior, and replace conventional wisdom with empirical knowledge about an aspect of human behavior for this population. Implications for social work practice, suicide prevention, and future research are discussed.

show abstract

Section: Racial Similarity In Levels Of Risk Factorscontrasting

confidence: 96%

Impact of Familial Factors and Psychopathology on Suicidality Among African American Adolescents

Joe

Clarke

Ivey

et al. 2007

Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Except during 2004–2006, rates for non-Hispanic blacks in rural areas were consistently lower than rates for non-Hispanic blacks in urban areas, with fluctuations across the entire period. A previous study using data from the 1993 National Mortality Followback Survey to identify risk and protective factors specific to suicide among blacks identified rural residence as a protective factor ( 22 ). A hypothesis that has been proposed to support this finding is that blacks living in urban areas will be more at risk for suicide due to the stressors and strains of urban life, including unaccustomed social isolation, as well as difficulty acculturating to middle-class suburban living ( 22 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicide Trends Among and Within Urbanization Levels by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, Age Group, and Mechanism of Death — United States, 2001–2015

Ivey-Stephenson

Crosby

Jack

et al. 2017

MMWR Surveill. Summ.

252

186

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Problem/ConditionSuicide is a public health problem and one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States. Substantial geographic variations in suicide rates exist, with suicides in rural areas occurring at much higher rates than those occurring in more urban areas. Understanding demographic trends and mechanisms of death among and within urbanization levels is important to developing and targeting future prevention efforts.Reporting Period2001–2015.Description of SystemMortality data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) include demographic, geographic, and cause of death information derived from death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. NVSS was used to identify suicide deaths, defined by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) underlying cause of death codes X60–X84, Y87.0, and U03. This report examines annual county level trends in suicide rates during 2001–2015 among and within urbanization levels by select demographics and mechanisms of death. Counties were collapsed into three urbanization levels using the 2006 National Center for Health Statistics classification scheme. ResultsSuicide rates increased across the three urbanization levels, with higher rates in nonmetropolitan/rural counties than in medium/small or large metropolitan counties. Each urbanization level experienced substantial annual rate changes at different times during the study period. Across urbanization levels, suicide rates were consistently highest for men and non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Natives compared with rates for women and other racial/ethnic groups; however, rates were highest for non-Hispanic whites in more metropolitan counties. Trends indicate that suicide rates for non-Hispanic blacks were lowest in nonmetropolitan/rural counties and highest in more urban counties. Increases in suicide rates occurred for all age groups across urbanization levels, with the highest rates for persons aged 35–64 years. For mechanism of death, greater increases in rates of suicide by firearms and hanging/suffocation occurred across all urbanization levels; rates of suicide by firearms in nonmetropolitan/rural counties were almost two times that of rates in larger metropolitan counties. InterpretationSuicide rates in nonmetropolitan/rural counties are consistently higher than suicide rates in metropolitan counties. These trends also are observed by sex, race/ethnicity, age group, and mechanism of death.Public Health ActionInterventions to prevent suicides should be ongoing, particularly in rural areas. Comprehensive suicide prevention efforts might include leveraging protective factors and providing innovative prevention strategies that increase access to health care and mental health care in rural communities. In addition, distribution of socioeconomic factors varies in different communities and needs to be better understood in the context of suicide prevention.

show abstract

“…3 Finally, suicide completion varies with social and cultural factors, being more common among lower socioeconomic groups 17 and in indigenous populations 18 (although rates are unusually low in African Americans). 19 We not know how recent decreases in suicide rates have affected higher-risk populations.…”

Section: Patterns Of Suicide Completionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting and Preventing Suicide: Do We Know Enough to Do Either?

Paris

2006

Harvard Review of Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In population studies, many risk factors are associated with suicide completion. Yet we cannot accurately predict whether any individual patient will die by suicide. Completers are a distinct population from attempters and do not necessarily present for treatment by mental health professionals. Research on suicide prevention has yielded some promising findings but has not shown that interventions produce definitive results. The strongest evidence for successful prevention derives from reducing access to means. A population-based strategy may be more effective than a high-risk strategy focusing on patients with suicidal ideas or attempts. Much more research is needed before developing effective suicide prevention programs.

show abstract

Uncovering the Mystery: Factors of African American Suicide

Cited by 84 publications

References 68 publications

Impact of Familial Factors and Psychopathology on Suicidality Among African American Adolescents

Impact of Familial Factors and Psychopathology on Suicidality Among African American Adolescents

Suicide Trends Among and Within Urbanization Levels by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, Age Group, and Mechanism of Death — United States, 2001–2015

Predicting and Preventing Suicide: Do We Know Enough to Do Either?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About