Premium
Seemingly Harmless Racial Communications Are Not So Harmless: Racial Microaggressions Lead to Suicidal Ideation by Way of Depression Symptoms
Author(s) -
O'Keefe Victoria M.,
Wingate LaRicka R.,
Cole Ashley B.,
Hollingsworth David W.,
Tucker Raymond P.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1111/sltb.12150
Subject(s) - suicidal ideation , depression (economics) , mental health , psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , suicide prevention , racism , poison control , medicine , medical emergency , political science , law , economics , macroeconomics
Racial microaggressions, a contemporary form of subtle discrimination that occurs in everyday interactions, are associated with a variety of negative mental health outcomes. Research has not extended the connection between racial microaggressions and negative mental health to include suicide risk. Given the well‐known association between negative mental health outcomes and suicide risk, the current study examined whether racial microaggressions predicted suicidal ideation through depression symptoms among 405 young adults of color. Depression symptoms mediated the relationship between racial microaggressions and suicidal ideation. This is the first study to associate racial microaggressions to suicide risk. Societal and clinical implications are discussed.