Perceived racism, discrimination, and acculturation in suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among black young adults

During young adulthood the suicide rate among Blacks rises dramatically and approaches that of the U.S. general population, requiring that prevention efforts include a focus on Black young adults. Although most research on suicidality among Blacks has focused on risk factors observed in the dominant culture, in this study the authors examined associations between perceived discrimination, racism, and acculturation with lifetime suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempt (SA) among Black young adults. Two hundred fifty Black or African American individuals aged 18-24 residing in a midsize northeastern city were recruited to participate through advertisements. Participants filled out self-report questionnaires. Logistic regressions were used to examine the association of each predictor with SI and SA. Greater perceived acculturation was associated with SI in univariate and multivariate models. There were no other statistically significant results concerning the predictors of interest. The link between perceived acculturation and SI is consistent with limited available data, indicating the need for further study including the potential mechanism(s) for the association. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and reliance on subjective measures.     

Similarities and Differences in Precipitating Events Between Black and Anglo Suicide Attempts

ABSTRACT: The rapid rise in suicide among young Blacks in America the past decade is of increasing concern to mental health practitioners and suicidologists. While there are some similarities among suicide attempts by Blacks and Whites, the pattern is that Black suicide attempters are distinctly more youthful. This exploratory study tests the hypothesis that the precipitating events for young Blacks who consider, plan, and attempt suicide is more likely to be “the loss or threatened loss of a love partner in the context of a negative value-orientation and intragroup pressures” than among Anglo suicide attempters. Specific strategies are recommended that use a family perspective for assisting Blacks who consider, plan and attempt suicide.     

Sexual orientation and suicide attempt: a longitudinal study of the general Norwegian adolescent population

Past and future suicide attempt rates among gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) young people were compared with those of heterosexual young people. A sample of Norwegian students (N = 2.924; grades 7-12) was followed in 3 data collection waves. Risk factors included previous suicide attempt,depressed mood, eating problems, conduct problems, early sexual debut, number of sexual partners, pubertal timing, self-concept, alcohol and drug use, atypical gender roles, loneliness, peer relations, social support, parental attachment, parental monitoring, and suicidal behavior among family and friends. When homosexual attraction, homosexual identity, and same-sex sexual behavior were entered to predict suicide attempt, only same-sex sexual behavior was significantly predictive. The increased odds could not be attributed to GLB students' greater exposure to risk factors for suicide attempt.     

Suicide among American Indian adolescents: an overview

Suicide has become a major concern of many Indian tribes and pueblos, as the rates in these tribes have increased dramatically in the last decade. One of the critical research questions is how to explain the vastly different rates of adolescent suicide among tribes. Research has identified some common patterns in experience and behavior among Indian adolescent suicides; these patterns are similar in many ways to those found in Los Angeles suicide research of Teicher (1979). Chronic versus acute stress factors in suicide are examined. Recent research has also identified a number of factors characterizing tribes with high suicide rates; these include failure to adhere to traditional ways of living, to traditional religion, and to clans and societies, and the resulting chaotic family structure and adult alcoholism. The roles of adoption of Indian children, boarding schools, and high unemployment in many tribes are also discussed. Suicide prevention and intervention programs are briefly described.     

Does the pot melt, boil, or brew? Black children and white assessment procedures

The experiences Black youths bring to school with them constitute a distinctive, viable culture. Their subsequent performance in educational and psychological testing situations cannot be assessed adequately without consideration of their particular attitudes, perceptions, and behavioral patterns, for all of these are determined by a kind of cultural conditioning which differs, in some fundamental ways, from mainstream Americans. Several of the social and psychological characteristics of Black culture are discussed. Included are Blacks' attitudes toward whites, systems of time allocations, expressions of identity, attitudes toward learning, dissemination of information among Blacks, Black learning styles and maturation processes. Each is discussed further in terms of its manifestation in a testing or assessment situation; how it conflicts with the assessor's orientations and expectations; and how distorted, unreliable evaluations result from the failure of assessors to consider implications of cultural relativism in interpreting Black behavior.     

Does the pot melt,boil, or brew? Black children and white assessment procedures

The experiences Black youths bring to school with them constitute a distinctive, viable culture. Their subsequent performance in educational and psychological testing situations cannot be assessed adequately without consideration of their particular attitudes, perceptions, and behavioral patterns, for all of these are determined by a kind of cultural conditioning which differs, in some fundamental ways, from mainstream Americans. Several of the social and psychological characteristics of Black culture are discussed. Included are Blacks' attitudes toward whites, systems of time allocations, expressions of identity, attitudes toward learning, dissemination of information among Blacks, Black learning styles and maturation processes. Each is discussed further in terms of its manifestation in a testing or assessment situation; how it conflicts with the assessor's orientations and expectations; and how distorted, unreliable evaluations result from the failure of assessors to consider implications of cultural relativism in interpreting Black behavior.     

The Teddy-Bear Effect: Does Having a Baby Face Benefit Black Chief Executive Officers?

ABSTRACT— Prior research suggests that having a baby face is negatively correlated with success among White males in high positions of leadership. However, we explored the positive role of such "babyfaceness" in the success of high-ranking Black executives. Two studies revealed that Black chief executive officers (CEOs) were significantly more baby-faced than White CEOs. Black CEOs were also judged as being warmer than White CEOs, even though ordinary Blacks were rated categorically as being less warm than ordinary Whites. In addition, baby-faced Black CEOs tended to lead more prestigious corporations and earned higher salaries than mature-faced Black CEOs; these patterns did not emerge for White CEOs. Taken together, these findings suggest that babyfaceness is a disarming mechanism that facilitates the success of Black leaders by attenuating stereotypical perceptions that Blacks are threatening. Theoretical and practical implications for research on race, gender, and leadership are discussed.     

Suicidality in African American men: the roles of southern residence, religiosity, and social support

The rise in suicide by African Americans in the United States is directly attributable to the dramatic, nearly three-fold increase in suicide rates of African American males. Gibbs (1997) hypothesized high social support, religiosity, and southern residence are protective factors against suicidality for Black people. This hypothesis was tested among 5,125 participants from the National Comorbidity Survey; 299 were African American males. In this study we hypothesized that there would be significantly lower suicidality in the South, and social support and religiosity would mediate this relationship. Our results indicate that Southern region is indeed a significant predictor of suicidal symptoms in African American men, such that suicidal symptoms were lower in the South, but religiosity and social support did not account for this effect. Other potential mediators were also examined.     

Subjective well-being evaluations among older black Americans

The causal relations among social status and resource, health, and stress factors, and a single-item measure of subjective well-being (i.e., happiness) were examined among a national sample of 581 Black adults aged 55 years and over. Results indicated that although social status and resource factors had a limited impact on happiness ratings, these measures were important in predicting intermediate factors related to health status and satisfaction and stress. Happiness was directly influenced by stress and reported satisfaction with health, whereas the effect of health disability was mediated by stress and health satisfaction. The findings suggest that certain groups of older Blacks (i.e., relatively younger, widowed, and separated) may be at specific risk for diminished well-being. However, adverse health and life conditions, which are determined by status and resources, represent circumstances that further jeopardize the well-being of older Black adults.     

Suicide Among Minority Elderly: A Preliminary Investigation

ABSTRACT: In the United States, suicide has traditionally been considered a White elderly phenomenon. Suicide rates have been increasing for Nonwhites in recent years, but it is not clear how this may have affected the age distribution, particularly for specific Nonwhite groups. An investigation of official 1976 suicide statistics among minority elderly revealed that suicide rates are also highest among the old for Chinese-, Japanese- and Filipino-Americans. Among Blacks and Native Americans, however, suicide rates are extremely low for the aged. Explanations for these findings are suggested and the need for a long-term study is indicated.     

Comparison of Suicide Attempters and Decedents in the U.S. Army: A Latent Class Analysis

A clearer understanding of risk factors for suicidal behavior among soldiers is of principal importance to military suicide prevention. It is unclear whether soldiers who attempt suicide and those who die by suicide have different patterns of risk factors. As such, preventive efforts aimed toward reducing suicide attempts and suicides, respectively, may require different strategies. We conducted a latent class analysis (LCA) to examine classes of risk factors among suicide attempters (n = 1,433) and decedents (n = 424). Both groups were represented by three classes: (1) External/Antisocial Risk Factors, (2) Mental Health Risk Factors, and (3) No Pattern. These findings support the conceptualization that military suicide attempters and decedents represent a single population.     

Association of suicide rates of elderly persons with fertility rates

A negative correlation between societal suicide rates and social integration has been reported, but rarely specifically examined for suicide rates of the elderly although suicide rates of elderly persons are among the highest. The associations of suicide rates of elderly persons and fertility rates for 81 countries were examined using data from the World Health Organisation and United Nations. Fertility rates were considered a proxy measure for social integration. Multiple regression analysis indicated that suicide rates for males and females in the age bands 65-74 years and 75+ years were independently (negative) correlated with fertility rates. Fertility rates, as a measure of social integration, may interact with, modify and mediate the effect of cultural factors on suicide rates of elderly persons.     

Suicide and the contemporary woman: Are male and female suicide rates converging?

Nationwide statistics on White suicide rates for the years 1960–1978 are examined to assess whether the suicide rates of women are increasing relative to those of men. This is accomplished by calculating for the total population and for several age groupings the sex differential (SD), which is defined as the percentage of suicides which are female after adjustments are made for the sex distribution in the population. The data reveal that the SD narrowed from 1960–1967, held steady from 1968–1972, and then widened slightly from 1973–1978. The most important aspects of these trends are that (a) the narrowing of the SD is due more to declining suicide rates among older (over-40) males than to increasing female suicide rates, and (b) the narrowing of the SD and the small increases in female suicide rates occurred prior to 1970 and thus were earlier than would be expected on the basis of changing sex-role expectations. Post hoc explanations of these patterns refer to methodological factors and to changes in social integration resulting from a variety of sociohistorical factors.     

Social risk and protective factors for suicide attempts in low income African American men and women

A case-control study was conducted to examine a broad array of potential social risk and protective factors for suicide attempt among 200 African American men and women receiving care at a large, public, urban hospital. Specifically, we examined the effect of the following potential risk factors for suicide attempt: life hassles, partner abuse, partner dissatisfaction, and racist events; as well as the following potential protective factors: effectiveness of obtaining resources, social embeddedness, and social support. Using logistic regression, suicide attempter status was predicted by two independently significant social variables: one risk factor (life hassles) and one protective factor (social support). Male versus female suicide attempters were not distinguished by the social variables. These findings, which support the utility of an ecological conceptualization of risk and protective factors for suicide attempt, help to clarify the independently significant social environment risk and protective factors for suicide attempts among economically disadvantaged African Americans in particular. Research on both risk factors and protective factors provide a basis for culturally competent interventions aimed at reducing both the risk of future suicide attempts and completions.     

The role of ethnicity,gender, emotional content,and contextual differences in physiological,expressive, and self-reported emotional responses to imagery

Cardiovascular responses, skin conductance, corrugator ("frown"), and zygomaticus ("smile") electromyographic activity, and self-reported emotional responses were examined in response to scenarios that varied in emotional content and whether they involved interacting with a Black or White person. Black (33 women, 25 men) and White (28 women, 26 men) students imagined joy, neutral, fear, and anger situations. Emotional contents replicated patterns of physiological and self-reported emotion found in other studies, although gender differences in emotion found in other studies were evident only in White participants. Blacks exhibited more positive facial expressions, while Whites were more negatively expressive. Blacks, and particularly Black men, exhibited greater blood pressure reactivity to the emotional contexts. For both White and Black participants, imagined interactions with Blacks increased both positive and negative facial expression. Results suggest that, compared to Whites, Blacks are both more autonomically reactive to emotional interactions and may be responded to more emotionally. The results are discussed in terms of the need to study specific contextual factors rather than broad cross-cultural characterisations.     

The Gender Ratio of Chinese Suicide Rates: An Explanation in Confucianism

The gender (male to female) ratio of the Chinese suicide rates is different from those found in the rest of the world. None of the other societies with known suicide data has had female suicide rates higher than those for the males. While we investigate the factors that contribute to the relatively high suicide rates for Chinese women, we also need to ask what makes the relatively low suicide rates for Chinese men. In this study we try to examine some social and cultural variables in rural Chinese youths in order to identify the factors that account for the relatively low rate for men and relatively high rate for women. In rural China, 392 suicides (both men and women) aged 14–35 years consecutively sampled from 16 counties of three provinces were studied with 416 community living controls of the same age range and from the same locations. Case–control psychological autopsy method was used for the data collection. It is found that believing in Confucianism and being married are both protecting the rural young men from suicide, while the two same variables are either risk or non-protecting factors for the Chinese rural young women’s suicide. In rural China, social structure and culture may play an even more important role determining a society’s suicide rates as well as the gender ratios. Thus, suicide prevention may need to include culture specific measures.     

The threat of appearing prejudiced and race-based attentional biases

The current work tested whether external motivation to respond without prejudice toward Blacks is associated with biased patterns of selective attention that reflect a threat response to Black individuals. In a dot-probe attentional bias paradigm, White participants with low and high external motivation to respond without prejudice toward Blacks (i.e., low-EM and high-EM individuals, respectively) were presented with pairs of White and Black male faces that bore either neutral or happy facial expressions; on each trial, the faces were displayed for either 30 ms or 450 ms. The findings were consistent with those of previous research on threat and attention: High-EM participants revealed an attentional bias toward neutral Black faces presented for 30 ms, but an attentional bias away from neutral Black faces presented for 450 ms. These attentional biases were eliminated, however, when the faces displayed happy expressions. These findings suggest that high levels of external motivation to avoid prejudice result in anxious arousal in response to Black individuals, and that this response affects even basic attentional processes.     

An Exploration of the Content of Stereotypes of Black Politicians

Do voters have the same stereotypes of Black politicians that they have of Black people in general? We argue that common stereotypes of Blacks (e.g., lazy, violent) may not apply to perceptions of Black politicians. Instead, we hypothesize that Black politicians are a unique subtype of the larger group Blacks, different enough to warrant their own stereotypes. We take an inductive approach to understanding the stereotypes of Black politicians. Employing a classic psychology research design ( Katz & Braly, 1933 ) in which respondents list traits for a target group, we find that there is little overlap of stereotype content between Black politicians and Blacks. Our results therefore indicate that Black politicians constitute a separate and unique subtype of Blacks. Our analysis explores similarities and differences between stereotypes of Black politicians and two other groups: Black professionals (another subtype of Blacks) and politicians. We discuss the implications of our findings for the relationship between stereotypes and voter decisions.     

The Evolution of Epidemic Suicide on Guam: Context and Contagion

Thirty years of suicide rates for Guam were analyzed by age, sex, period, and cohort. Youth suicide increased rapidly in the 1990s; certain cohorts have higher rates. Four explanatory factors are discussed, including ecological factors and migration from the Federated States of Micronesia. Direct and indirect suicide contagion followed the death by suicide of a respected politician, strongly influencing period and cohort patterns. Suicide pacts inflated suicide among young people. These factors acted in combination to produce epidemic levels of suicide in the 1990s.     

Racial disparities in smoking knowledge among current smokers: Data from the health information national trends surveys

Although African-Americans (Blacks) smoke fewer cigarettes per day than European-Americans (Whites), there is ample evidence that Blacks are more susceptible to smoking-related health consequences. A variety of behavioural, social and biological factors have been linked to this increased risk. There has been little research, however, on racial differences in smoking-related knowledge and perceived risk of lung cancer. The primary goal of the current study was to evaluate beliefs and knowledge that contribute to race disparities in lung cancer risk among current smokers. Data from two separate nationally representative surveys (the Health Information National Trends surveys 2003 and 2005) were analysed. Logistic and hierarchical regressions were conducted; gender, age, education level, annual household income and amount of smoking were included as covariates. In both studies, Black smokers were significantly more likely to endorse inaccurate statements than were White smokers, and did not estimate their lung cancer risk to be significantly higher than Whites. Results highlight an important racial disparity in public health knowledge among current smokers.