Trajectories of Suicidal Ideation from Sixth through Tenth Grades in Predicting Suicide Attempts in Young Adulthood in an Urban African American Cohort |
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| Authors: | Rashelle J Musci PhD Shelley R Hart PhD Elizabeth D Ballard PhD Alison Newcomer MA Kathryn Van Eck PhD Nicholas Ialongo PhD Holly Wilcox PhD |
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| Institution: | 1. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA;2. Department of Child Development, California State University, Chico, CA, USA;3. NIMH, Baltimore, MD, USA;4. Department of Psychology, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA;5. Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA;6. Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA;7. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA |
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| Abstract: | The trajectory of suicidal ideation across early adolescence may inform the timing of suicide prevention program implementation. This study aimed to identify developmental trajectories of suicidal ideation among an urban cohort of community‐residing African Americans (AA) longitudinally followed from middle school through early adulthood (ages 11–19 years). Subtypes based on the developmental course of suicidal ideation from late childhood through mid‐adolescence were identified using longitudinal latent class analysis (LLCA) with 581 AA adolescents (52.7% male; 71.1% free or reduced school meals). The developmental trajectories of suicidal ideation were then used to predict suicide attempts in young adulthood. Our LLCA indicated two subtypes (i.e., ideators and nonideators), with 8% of the sample in the ideator class. This trajectory class shows a peak of suicidal ideation in seventh grade and a steady decline in ideation in subsequent grades. Additionally, suicidal ideation trajectories significantly predicted suicide attempt. Results of these analyses suggest the need for suicide prevention approaches prior to high school for AA youth. |
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