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Differences in Nonfatal Suicide Behaviors among Mexican and European American Middle School Children
Author(s) -
Tortolero Susan R.,
Roberts Robert E.
Publication year - 2001
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 - 10.1521/suli.31.2.214.21519
Subject(s) - suicidal ideation , psychosocial , ethnic group , ideation , suicide prevention , depression (economics) , clinical psychology , psychology , suicide ideation , poison control , medicine , demography , psychiatry , environmental health , sociology , anthropology , economics , macroeconomics , cognitive science
This report describes ethnic and gender differences in suicide ideation among two large samples of middle school students in New Mexico ( n = 2,140) and Texas ( n = 1,302). Students completed a self‐administered questionnaire on suicide ideation and psychosocial risk factors. Mexican Americans in both samples reported significantly higher prevalence of suicide ideation than did their European American counterparts. Mexican Americans were 1.8 times more likely to have high suicide ideation than European Americans. The suicide ideation risk for Mexican Americans remained unchanged in both samples after adjusting for gender, age, family structure, depression, low social support, and self‐esteem. This study indicates that ethnicity plays an important role in suicidal ideation, but the mechanism remains unclear.