Differential Effects of Religiosity On Blacks Risk for Suicide

Background and Purpose: Suicide is among the few racial health disparity areas for which Black Americans traditionally fare better than whites. Although religiosity is frequently proposed for examination as a buffer against suicidal behavior among Black Americans, empirical investigations of this hypothesis have been limited to qualitative studies, college samples, and several national studies using either aggregate or probability data with less than 200 Black Americans in the sample. The investigations of the impact of religion on suicidal thoughts and acts, based primarily on aggregate level data, has not yielded consistent results (Lester, 2000; S. Stack & David Lester, 1991). The current study examine whether different types of religiosity confer similar or differential effects on suicide risk among an nationally representative sample of Black Americans.

Method: Data are from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), a national household probability sample of 5181 black respondents aged 18 years and older, conducted between February 2001 and June 2003, using a slightly modified adaptation of the World Health Organization World Mental Health version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI). Bivariate and logistic analyses were employed to delineate patterns and correlates of nonfatal suicidal behavior.

Results: The more religious Black Americans who attend religious service at least once a week were less likely to engage in suicide ideation (x22=16.50, P<.001) and attempts (x22=4.96, p=.08). An increase subjective religiosity was associated with lower suicide risk. Surprisingly those who engaged in private devotion (e.g., listening or watching religious broadcasts) did not confer an increase protective effect on either ideation or suicide attempts. The multivariate model revealed that after control of social stressors (material hardship and food insufficiency), service attendance and subjective religiosity does not resulted in a significant reduction in Black risk for suicide.

Conclusions and Implications: This study makes a rare contribution to our understanding of the various dimensions of religious participation, including organizational religiosity (e.g., service attendance), private devotion (e.g., reading religious materials, listening to religious music), subjective religiosity (e.g., importance of religion in one's life) associated with a reduced risk for suicide among Black Americans. The study advances knowledge of the various dimensions of religious participation, namely, organizational religiosity (e.g., service attendance), in contrast to private devotion (e.g., reading religious materials, listening to religious music) or subjective religiosity (e.g., importance of religion in one's life), which does not help to reduce the risk for suicide attempts and serious suicide ideation among Black Americans. The findings that high material hardship increases the risk for suicide despite the engagement in religious, implies that these factors have an independent and opposite effects on suicide risk. The implications of these findings for future research and suicide prevention will be discussed.