Suicidal ideation among American Indian youth

Abstract

<p>Risk factors for suicidal ideation among 212 American Indian youth were examined in this dissertation. The youth lived on or near three reservations in the upper Midwest, and they had an average age of 12 years. Nine percent of the youth reported current thoughts about killing themselves. Several factors were related to suicidal ideation among these youth: self-esteem, depressive symptoms, substance use, discrimination, and negative life events. Hopelessness was unrelated to suicidal ideation, and this was attributed to the present- rather than future-oriented focus of Native people. Substance use emerged as the most important predictor of suicidal ideation, and it was argued that the strength of this relationship may have been due, in part, to variables that were correlated with both substance use and suicidal ideation but were not included in the model. It was concluded that both general (e.g., self-esteem, depressive symptoms, substance use, and negative life events) and culturally-specific (e.g., discrimination) variables should be accounted for in order to fully understand suicidal ideation among American Indian youth.</p>