Profile of a metropolitan North American immigrant suicidal adolescent population.
OBJECTIVE
Canadian immigrant adolescents have a lower suicide rate than their nonimmigrant peers. We conducted a hypothesis-generating analysis to determine whether this lower rate correlated with level of drug use and (or) with diagnostic and demographic characteristics of Canadian immigrant adolescents presenting to an emergency room for crisis assessment.


METHODS
Known risk factors for suicide were compared among immigrant youth, North American youth, and a culturally mixed group of youth at baseline and at 6-month follow-up.


RESULTS
The immigrant group was only differentiated by a lower rate of reported drug use.


CONCLUSIONS
The lower rate of reported drug use at the time of crisis may contribute to the lower suicide rate among immigrants.
Greenfield
Brian
B
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. brian.greenfield@muhc.mcgill.ca
Rousseau
Cécile
C
Slatkoff
Joshua
J
Lewkowski
Maxime
M
Davis
Michael
M
Dube
Sébastien
S
Lashley
Myrna E
ME
Morin
Isabelle
I
Dray
Patti
P
Harnden
Bonnie
B
D000293:Adolescent; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D002648:Child; D003710:Demography; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012307:Risk Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*