Comparison of suicidal risk factors among Mexican-American and Anglo-American adolescents

Abstract

Suicidal behavior among adolescents is a leading cause of death in the United States. Previous research has focused mainly on clinical samples of Anglo-American fatal suicidal behavior, with little research on minorities and few comparative analyses. The purpose of this study was to identify psychosocial risk factors associated with nonfatal suicidal behavior among Mexican-American and Anglo-American adolescents. Psychosocial variables were chosen either based on their previously demonstrated correlation with suicidal behavior or due to being neglected in prior research.

Data were collected from a representative sample of Mexican- American and Anglo-American adolescents at two times four years apart. At Time 1, the sample consisted of 2093 Mexican-American adolescents (1174 males, 919 females) and 1116 Anglo-Americans (568 males, 548 females). At Time 2, there were 1094 Mexican-Americans (559 males, 535 females) and 512 (227 males, 285 females) Anglo-Americans. The sample included adolescents who were dropouts, academically at-risk, and in good standing.

Results indicated that several variables were associated with suicidal ideation; however, they were not good predictors of suicidal attempt. The best predictors of future suicidal ideation for Mexican-Americans were sexual abuse, anxiety, and gender, whereas gender, depression, anxiety, Hispanic identification, and physical abuse were the best concurrent predictors. For Anglo-Americans, the best future correlates were depression and low Anglo-identity, whereas depression and anxiety were the best concurrent predictors. For males, anxiety was the best future predictor, and self-esteem and depression were the strongest concurrent correlates. Sexual abuse and depression were the best future and concurrent predictors for females. Future predictions based on school status were unreliable due to small sample size. Concurrently, gender, depression, and anxiety were the best correlates of suicidal ideation for atrisk students. For dropouts, depression, anxiety, and physical abuse were the strongest correlates, while for students in good standing, depression and low Hispanic identification were significantly correlated. Results indicate that suicidal adolescents are a heterogeneous group of individuals with complex interactions of risk and protective factors specific to each group. A need for a thorough assessment of multiple areas of psychosocial functioning, including academic, social, and psychiatric functioning to prevent suicidal behavior is indicated.