Sherry Davis Molock

Cultural Considerations in Adolescent Suicide Prevention and Psychosocial Treatment.

Ethnic groups differ in rates of suicidal behaviors among youths, the context within which suicidal behavior occurs (e.g., different precipitants, vulnerability and protective factors, and reactions to suicidal behaviors), and patterns of help-seeking. In this article, the authors discuss the cultural context of suicidal behavior among African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and Latino adolescents, and the implications of these contexts for suicide prevention and treatment. Several cross-cutting issues are discussed, including acculturative stress and protective factors within cultures; the roles of religion and spirituality and the family in culturally sensitive interventions; different manifestations and interpretations of distress in different cultures; and the impact of stigma and cultural distrust on help-seeking. The needs for culturally sensitive and community- based interventions are discussed, along with future opportunities for research in intervention development and evaluation.

Relationship Between Religious Coping and Suicidal Behaviors Among African American Adolescents

This study investigated whether hopelessness and depression were risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in African American adolescents and looked at whether religious participation and religious coping protected these students from suicidality. Participants were 212 African American high school students (133 females, 79 males). The results of multiple and logistic regression analyses found that hopelessness and depression were risk factors for suicidal ideation and attempts. Religious coping style was significantly related to suicidal behaviors: Self-directed coping was related to increased hopelessness, depression, and suicide attempts, and collaborative coping was related to increased reasons for living. Gender differences were found in symptoms of depression, religious coping style and religious participation. Results provide additional support for suicide interventions to target hopelessness and depressive symptoms and highlight the importance of examining the role of culturally salient variables, such as religious participation and religious coping style, when developing intervention programs for suicide.

Perception of Social Support, Acculturation, Depression, and Suicidal Ideation among African American College Students at Predominantly Black and Predominantly White Universities

Regina M. Kimbrough, Sherry D. Molock, and Kimberly Walton, Department of Psychology, Howard University* This study was designed to examine the relationships among perception of social support, acculturation, depression, and suicidal ideation among African American college students attending predominantly Black and predominantly White universities. Two hundred-six students were matched by age, gender, and SES background. No differences were found in depression and suicidal ideation among students at Black versus White institutions. African American students with nonsupportive families and friends were more likely to experience suicidal ideation and depression. The findings are discussed in light of the need to take into account the cultural context of the larger community surrounding a campus as well as the role of religious beliefs when assessing the support networks of African American students. INTRODUCTION Suicide is a major cause of death for young people in the United States. Census figures suggest that 32,000 individuals commit suicide each year (Holden, 1992). However, these figures underestimate the extent of the problem because a large percentage of attempted and completed suicides are not reported. Epidemiological data in the United States report suicide to be the second leading cause of death for youth between the ages of 15 and 19 and the third leading cause of death for youth between the ages of 15 and 24 (Berman & Jobes, 1995). A significant number of youth suicide occurs among the college population. Since the 1970s, approximately one thousand college students commit suicide each year, and approximately one hundred thousand attempt suicide each year (Peck & Bharadwadj, 1980). Higher rates of chronic stress, depression, the break-up of families, divorce, lack of social support, and the transitory nature of adolescence have all been indicated as possible factors related to the increase (Berman & Jobes, 1995; Curran, 1987; Wartik, 1991). In addition to stressors and perception of social support, literature also suggests that depression is a risk factor related to suicidal ideation (Bonner & Rich,1988). Early investigations have estimated that the lifetime risk of suicide for individuals with primary depression is about 15%, while the lifetime suicide risk for the general population is 1% (Slater & Depue, 1981). In the adolescent and young adult population, a strong relationship has been found between depression and suicidal behaviors (Friedman, Corn, Aronoff, Hurt, & Clarkin, 1984; Spirito, 1989). Very little research has examined suicidal behavior among African American college students. This lack of interest is surprising, given that suicide is currently the third leading cause of death among African American youth between the ages of 15 and 24, following homicides and accidental deaths (Gibbs, 1988, Griffith & Bell, 1989). Additionally, suicide rates for Black males aged 25 to 34 are quickly approaching the rates of White males in the same age group. Recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicate that suicide rates for individuals between the ages of 20 and 24 have declined for all races and gender groups except Black males (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1995). The research that has been conducted on African American college students and suicide has focused on suicide attempt rates, rate of suicidal ideation, experience with suicide, coping strategies, and prevalence of stressors (Molock & Kimbrough, 1993; Molock, Kimbrough, Blanton-Lacy, McClure, & Williams, 1994). Molock et al. (1994) found suicidal behavior patterns among African American college students to be comparable to those found among White college students in so far as suicidal attempt rates are concerned. Differences found between these groups indicate that African American students have lower rates of reported suicidal ideation and fewer reports of alcohol or illicit drug use when attempting suicide. …

Perceived Norms and Mental Health Help Seeking among African American College Students

In general, African Americans do not seek mental health treatment from formal sources at the same rates as Caucasians. The present study examined whether culturally relevant factors (i.e., perceived negative peer and family norms about help seeking) influence help-seeking intentions in a late adolescent African-American sample (n = 219) and whether there is a gender difference in the predictive strength between peer and family norms. Participants were primarily female (n = 144). Multiple regressions were implemented to explore the relationship between perceived norms and help-seeking intentions. Analyses revealed that males had higher perceived peer norms, and family norms were a stronger predictor of intentions than peer norms for females. Individually, peer norms and family norms were related to help-seeking intentions. When perceived norms were analyzed together, only negative family norms were related to intentions. Findings suggest that incorporating family norms is critical when developing interventions to increase formal service utilization among African Americans.

Suicidality and depression among african american adolescents: the role of family and peer support and community connectedness.

Rates of suicide are increasing among African American adolescents and pose a significant public health concern. One area that has received little attention is the relationship between various types of social support and suicide, and the extent to which support moderates the relationship between depressive symptoms and suicidality. A total of 212 African American adolescents completed in-school surveys on three types of social support: family support, peer support, and community connectedness. The survey also addressed depressive symptoms and suicidality, as measured by reasons for living, a cognitive measure of suicide risk. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine direct and moderating relationships between types of social support and suicidality. The results indicated that increased family support and peer support are associated with decreased suicidality, and peer support and community connectedness moderated the relationship between depressive symptoms and suicidality. Over a third of the variability in reasons for living was predicted by family support, peer support, and community connectedness. Implications for research and preventative interventions for African American adolescents are discussed.

Suicidal Behavior among African American College Students: A Preliminary Study

This preliminary study examined suicidality in 233 African American college students who attended a historically Black college. Suicidality involves both suicidal ideation and suicidal behaviors. Suicidal ideation includes the thoughts andfeelings that are often associated with suicidal behavior (e.g., developing a suicide plan, preoccupation with thoughts of death, etc.). Suicidal behavior involves the deliberate attempt to take ones life. The results indicate that the suicidality among African American college students is similar to the suicidality manifested in White American college students with the exception of two critical areas: African American college students report less suicidal ideation than the literature reports on White American college students, andfewerAfrican American than White college students use alcohol or illicit drugs while making a suicide attempt. This study also found preliminary evidence that suggests that the measures typically used to measure suicide and its correlates in White American samples (e.g., Beck Depression Inventory and the Scale for Suicidal Ideation) appear to reliably measure these phenomena in an African American sample as well. Issues pertaining to the role of the supportive Black institution in ameliorating the stress associated with suicidal behavior and methodological concerns regarding the measurement of depression, suicidal ideation, and suicidal attempts in African American college students are discussed.

Developing Suicide Prevention Programs for African American Youth in African American Churches

Suicide prevention programs for African American youth in African American churches may have broad appeal because: (1) the Black Church has a strong history of helping community members, regardless of church membership; (2) African Americans have the highest level of public and private religiousness; and (3) the church can help shape religious and cultural norms about mental health and help-seeking. The proposed gatekeeper model trains lay helpers and clergy to recognize the risk and protective factors for depression and suicide, to make referrals to the appropriate community mental health resources, and to deliver a community education curriculum. Potential barriers and suggestions for how to overcome these barriers are discussed.

Introduction: Suicidal Behaviors in the African American Community

This article reviews the risk and protective factors associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the African American community. The authors provide a brief review of the history of suicide research in African American communities and critique some of the paradigms and underlying assumptions that have made it difficult to address the problem of suicidal behaviors in the African American community. The article also summarizes the articles that are presented in this special edition of the Journal of Black Psychology on suicidality in the African American community.

Psychological Factors Influencing Physical Health in African American College Students

The purpose of this study was to determine the contributions of stress, health beliefs, health behaviors, and gender on physical health outcomes of African American college students. Measures of physical symptoms experienced and perception of health were used as indicators of physical health. The paper presents a model of the relationships among psychological and physical health variables and discusses support (and lack of support) for aspects of the model. Subjects were 59 African American students attending two universities in the Eastern region of the United States. A questionnaire that assessed health beliefs, health behaviors, stress, physical symptoms, and perception of health was administered to each subject. The results of regression analyses indicated that health beliefs and stress explained a significant amount of the variance of physical symptoms and that health behaviors explained a significant amount of the variance in perception of health. Physical symptoms and perception of health were not related to each other suggesting that these are independent concepts.