Purposes: To present the epidemiological trends and pattern of suicide among African Americans,as well as, to examine the socioeconomic and clinical factors that might be related to gender differences in suicidality among this population.

Background: Suicide among young African American is a considerable emergent public health problem as indicated by the recent Institute of Medicine's report, Reducing Suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among African Americans adolescents and young adults. Males disproportionately share the burden of suicide among African Americans for reasons yet known. Without this work little can be done to understand, intervene, or prevent suicide and suicidal behavior in African Americans.

Methods: Data from psychiatric emergency visits of all patients' ages 18 years and under from October 1, 2001 to September 30, 2002 were abstract and coded. All patients demographic, Axis I diagnosis, functional impairment, abuse history, substance use, and pattern of referrals were assessed. Bivariate and binomial logistic regression analyses were employed to analyze data for a sample of 1799 patients to document the incidence and patterns of parasuicidal behavior and gender differences among Black adolescent users.

Results: Males are significantly more likely than females to complete suicide. However, consistent with empirical literature males are at decreased risk for non-fatal suicidal behavior (OR=.617, p=.001). Gender differences in the risk for non-fatal suicidal behavior were no longer significant after controlling for important clinical and sociodemographic factors. The impact of mood disorders, age, socioeconomic status, and functional impairment might underlie gender differences in suicidal behavior.

Implications: This report presents clinical data on gender differences in the prevalence of and risk factor for suicidal behavior among African American adolescents presenting at an urban pediatric psychiatric emergency service. This paper provides social workers with the most recent data on African-American youth suicide, background information on the risk and protective factors. The study underscore the importance of understanding gender differences in suicide risk and discusses the implications social work practice.