title: Suicide ideation and attempts among low-income African American adolescents.
abstract: We examined the impact of risk and protective factors on the odds that African American adolescents seriously think about or attempt suicide. Data from students in grades 5-12 in a mostly urban, southeastern U.S. school district were analyzed. Findings support earlier work documenting differences in gender and grades. Risk factors were uniformly significant in understanding both ideation and attempts. Protective factors were not consistent predictors; the lowering role of religious protective factors was limited, though student's belonging to or their perception of belonging to a spiritual community was a significant factor in lowering the odds of suicide ideation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA. kfitzpa@uark.edu
authors.forename: Kevin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
authors.forename: Bettina F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Piko
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*