Acculturative Stress, Perceived Discrimination, and Vulnerability to Suicide Attempts Among Emerging Adults

Cultural factors are often neglected in studies of suicidal behavior among emerging adults. The present study examined acculturative
stress and perceived discrimination as statistical predictors of a suicide attempt history among an ethnically diverse sample
of 969 emerging adults, ages 18–25 (M = 18.8). Females made up 68% of the sample, and the racial/ethnic composition included Asian, Latino, Black, and White (US-born
and non-US-born) individuals. There were no statistically significant racial/ethnic differences in endorsement of a suicide
attempt history, with an overall rate of 8% in the sample. Asian participants reported higher acculturative stress than all
other racial/ethnic groups, while both Asian and Black participants reported having experienced more discrimination in the
previous year, compared to other groups. Logistic regression analyses suggested that familial acculturative stress was associated
with 2 times higher odds of endorsing a past suicide attempt, overall. More specifically, it was associated with over 2 times
higher odds among Asian participants, over 4 times higher odds among Black participants, and over 3 times higher odds among
non-US-born White participants, while social acculturative stress was associated with over 3 times higher odds of endorsing
a past suicide attempt among Latino participants. Environmental acculturative stress was associated with decreased odds of
endorsing a suicide attempt history, overall, but not when examined separately by racial/ethnic group. Perceived discrimination
was associated with over 5 times higher odds of a suicide attempt, overall, and specifically was associated with over 3 times
higher odds among Latino participants and over 10 times higher odds among White, US-born participants. These findings suggest
the importance of addressing culturally-related variables in treatment with emerging adults of racially/ethnically diverse
backgrounds to reduce risk for suicidal behavior.