Forms of Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Suicidal Ideation: A Prospective Examination of African-American and Latinx Youth

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Abstract

Although suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents, research revealing potent predictors of suicidal thoughts above and beyond the effects of depressive symptoms is limited, perhaps especially among racial and ethnic minority youth. This prospective study examined two subtypes of racial/ethnic discrimination (i.e., overt and more subtle forms), among African American and Latinx youth. Both African American (n = 85) and Latinx (n = 73) adolescents completed measures of perceived discrimination, suicidal ideation, and depression at baseline (9 th grade spring) as well as a measure of suicidal ideation one-year later. Factor analyses revealed subscales reflecting both overt and more subtle forms of racial/ethnic discrimination, consistent with the concept of microaggressions. Findings revealed that subtle forms of discrimination were concurrently associated with suicidal ideation among African American and Latinx youth, and were prospectively associated with suicidal ideation among African American adolescents, above and beyond the effects of depressive symptoms. Findings underscore the deleterious effects of subtle forms of discrimination on adolescents’ risk for suicidal thoughts.

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Joseph Franklin, Jessica Ribeiro, Kathryn Fox … (2017)

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) are major public health problems that have not declined appreciably in several decades. One of the first steps to improving the prevention and treatment of STBs is to establish risk factors (i.e., longitudinal predictors). To provide a summary of current knowledge about risk factors, we conducted a meta-analysis of studies that have attempted to longitudinally predict a specific STB-related outcome. This included 365 studies (3,428 total risk factor effect sizes) from the past 50 years. The present random-effects meta-analysis produced several unexpected findings: across odds ratio, hazard ratio, and diagnostic accuracy analyses, prediction was only slightly better than chance for all outcomes; no broad category or subcategory accurately predicted far above chance levels; predictive ability has not improved across 50 years of research; studies rarely examined the combined effect of multiple risk factors; risk factors have been homogenous over time, with 5 broad categories accounting for nearly 80% of all risk factor tests; and the average study was nearly 10 years long, but longer studies did not produce better prediction. The homogeneity of existing research means that the present meta-analysis could only speak to STB risk factor associations within very narrow methodological limits-limits that have not allowed for tests that approximate most STB theories. The present meta-analysis accordingly highlights several fundamental changes needed in future studies. In particular, these findings suggest the need for a shift in focus from risk factors to machine learning-based risk algorithms. (PsycINFO Database Record

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Racial/ethnic discrimination and well-being during adolescence: A meta-analytic review.

Aprile D Benner, Yijie Wang, Yishan Shen … (2018)

This meta-analytic study systematically investigates the relations between perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and socioemotional distress, academics, and risky health behaviors during adolescence and potential variation in these relations. The study included 214 peer-reviewed articles, theses, and dissertations with 489 unique effect sizes on 91,338 unique adolescents. Random-effects meta-analyses across 11 separate indicators of well-being identified significant detrimental effects. Greater perceptions of racial/ethnic discrimination were linked to more depressive and internalizing symptoms, greater psychological distress, poorer self-esteem, lower academic achievement and engagement, less academic motivation, greater engagement in externalizing behaviors, risky sexual behaviors, and substance use, and more associations with deviant peers. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses indicated differences by race/ethnicity, gender-by-race/ethnicity interactions, developmental stage, timing of retrospective measurement of discrimination, and country. Overall, this study highlights the pernicious effects of racial/ethnic discrimination for adolescents across developmental domains and suggests who is potentially at greater risk.