Do Sociocultural Factors Predict Suicidality Among Persons of African Descent Living in the U.S.?

Given that researchers have found increased risk for suicidality and other psychiatric problems among acculturated individuals, we predicted similar results for African-descended people living in the U.S. We surveyed a community sample of 423 adult men and women of African descent to determine acculturation's relationship to Black suicide. Participants completed the African American Acculturation Scale, the Multi-Dimensional Support Scale, and a subscale of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale. Suicidal ideation and history of suicide attempt were defined as a “yes” response to the questions, “have you ever considered taking your own life?” and “have you ever attempted to take your own life?” We found that religious well-being (not acculturation) was predictive of both suicidal ideation and history of suicide attempt.

Keywords:

• suicide
• socio-cultural
• African-descent

Notes

¹The labels “African American” and “Black” are used interchangeably in the present article. Unless otherwise specified, both are used to refer to people of African descent living in the United States.

Note. For all scales, higher scores are indicative of more extreme responding in the direction of the construct assessed.

Note. For all measures, higher scores are indicative of more extreme responding in the direction of the construct assessed. ^# p < .10. ^* p < .05. ^** p < .01. Gender is coded 1 = male and 2 = female.

*p < .05. **p < .01.

**p < .01.