title: Suicide, negative interaction and emotional support among black Americans.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study is the first to investigate the relationship between perceived emotional support and negative interaction with family members and suicide ideation and attempts among African American and Caribbean black adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional epidemiologic data from the National Survey of American Life and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between perceived emotional support and negative interaction and suicide behaviors among 3,570 African Americans and 1,621 Caribbean blacks age 18 and older.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multivariate analyses found that perceived emotional support was associated with lower odds of suicide ideation and attempts for African Americans and Caribbean blacks. Negative interaction with family was associated with greater odds of suicide ideation among African Americans and Caribbean blacks. Ethnicity moderated the impact of emotional support and negative interaction on suicide attempts; among Caribbean blacks, those who reported more frequent emotional support from their family had a significantly greater reduced risk for suicide attempts than African Americans. The effect of negative interaction on suicide attempts was also more pronounced for Caribbean blacks compared to African Americans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Negative interaction was a risk factor for suicide ideation and emotional support was a protective factor for attempts and ideation. These associations were observed even after controlling for any mental disorder. The findings demonstrate the importance of social relationships as both risk and protective factors for suicide and ethnic differences in suicidal ideation and attempts among black Americans.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0411, USA. klincoln@usc.edu
authors.forename: Karen D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Lincoln
authors.forename: Robert Joseph
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Chatters
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Joe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult