Culturally Competent Approaches Suicide Prevention Resource Center

There remains a need to conduct research dedicated to developing culturally-specific and effective interventions, including among groups largely left out of suicide prevention research and engagement. Goal 14 seeks to increase and enhance diversity in the suicide prevention workforce. Much more work is needed to address populations disproportionately impacted by suicide to reduce and eliminate health disparities. Also see Table 4 in the introduction for factors that may increase or decrease risk of suicide.

Exploring suicide and stigma with different communities

Among different minority groups, such as African-, Asian- or Latino-Americans, cultural distinctions reflect the differing motivations of people to choose or reject suicide. Understanding the disparities between certain groups and factors contributing to suicide risk is crucial for preventing it. Additionally, anyone who has experienced violence, including adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) like physical abuse, bullying and sexual violence, has a higher suicide risk. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health to educate communities about the importance of improving access to mental health care and treatment for minorities and to help break down other barriers such as negative perceptions about mental illness.

Community Violence.

1, all 13 female subgroups have a higher prevalence of this outcome than the 13 male subgroups, with Native American females the most likely to have reported a suicide attempt (16.50%). As shown, all https://drexel.edu/counselingandhealth/counseling-center/cultural-identity-resources/latinx 13 female subgroups have higher likelihoods of reported suicidal thoughts than all 13 male subgroups. Table 1 presents the weighted descriptive statistics for the study variables for the full sample as well as disaggregated by gender. Further, contrasts with the grand mean (i.e., the overall prevalence in the sample) will tend toward zero for the categories which occur more frequently in the data, as larger groups exert a greater influence on the overall mean than smaller groups.

Bisexual people have been found to have significantly poorer mental health and unique life experiences that distinguish them from other sexual minority groups 47, 48. The inclusion of non-population-based studies in the review may explain why results differed from our finding of a higher prevalence of suicidality among females for sexual minority populations. This study provides population-based estimates of the prevalence of suicidality among sexual and gender minority populations in Canada. Accurate estimates of suicidality among sexual and gender minority populations are necessary for public health surveillance and research . Sexual and gender minority populations were especially vulnerable to economic hardship , mental and emotional stress due to isolation, and decreased access to medical services , all of which were related to an increased risk of suicidality . A 2022 Canadian study found that transgender 15 to 17 year-olds had five times the risk of suicidal ideation and 7.6 times the risk of suicide attempts, compared with cisgender (a person whose gender identity corresponds to the sex assigned at birth), heterosexual adolescents .

• Sexual and gender minority populations had relatively low levels of social support and health care access (Table 4).
• According to a 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis, stigma related to mental illness is higher among ethnic minorities than majorities.
• There have been some application of the IPTS to racial and ethnic minorities, verifying that low belonging and perceived burdensomeness predict suicide attempts among White, African-American, Hispanic, and Hispanic Blacks, though differences across racial groups were not observed.
• Although suicide rates are lower among youths ages 10–24, when compared with adults, they account for the second leading cause of death for this age group and constitute 14% of all suicide deaths (1).
• The Interpersonal Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS; (Van Orden et al., 2010) posits that feeling ostracized (i.e. thwarted belongingness) and feeling as though one is a burden on others can give rise to suicidal thoughts.

For example, American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) populations face high rates of alcohol abuse among youth (SAMHSA 2014), and relatively easy access to alcohol may be one of the contributing factors. Fortunately, advances recently have been made in preventing, intervening in, and treating substance abuse among traditionally underserved racial, ethnic, and sexual minority subpopulations. However, interesting and potentially important advances in prevention, brief interventions, and treatment have been made in the last few years, at least among some minority populations, such as American Indian youth. Substance abuse research among racial, ethnic, and sexual minority populations historically has lagged behind that conducted with majority samples. “As the nation continues to respond to the short- and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, remaining vigilant in prevention efforts is critical, especially among disproportionately affected populations where longer-term impacts might compound preexisting inequities in suicide risk,” the authors wrote.

From 1991 through 2017, suicide death rates significantly increased among Black youth (CBC, 2019) and Latine1 females (Silva & Van Orden, 2018); they remain highest among Native American/Indigenous youth (Curtin & Hedegaard, 2019). While rates of other public health crises have declined over recent decades, rates of suicide have remained alarmingly high and have increased disproportionately among groups of color in the United State (Martínez-Alés et al., 2021). Despite these alarming trends, there are very few culturally tailored suicide risk assessment measures or procedures for youth from communities of color. While suicide rates for White groups have declined, there has been a precipitous rise in suicide deaths and suicide-related phenomena in Black youth; rates remain high among Native American/Indigenous youth. The significance of youth suicide as a public health concern is underscored by the fact that it is the second leading cause of death for youth globally. But more importantly, coordinated efforts across disciplines are needed to eliminate discrimination at multiple levels of society to reduce suicide risk for people of color in the United States.