Social Support Network Typologies and Suicidality Among African Americans

Background and Purpose: Suicide claimed the lives of 39,518 Americans in 2011 (most recent data available).  As the tenth leading of cause of death in the U.S., suicides account for 12% of all deaths.  It is evident that suicide is an important and preventable public health problem, and although extant research has identified a range of risk and protective factors associated with suicidality among the general population, there is scant empirical work on risk and protective factors among minority populations.  Prior research has demonstrated that social support and strong social ties protect against suicide, while negative social interactions are positively associated with suicidality.  The purpose of this study is to determine whether belonging to specific support network types (i.e., profiles) is associated with suicidality.  We hypothesize that: 1) membership in a support network type characterized by high levels of social integration will be negatively associated with suicidality; 2) membership in a support network type characterized by high levels of negative interaction, regardless of the level of social integration, will be positively associated with suicidality.

Methods: Data analysis was based on a nationally representative sample of African American adults (N = 3,419) from the National Survey of American Life.  Suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts were assessed.  Support network types were derived using latent class analysis using ten latent class indicators of positive and negative relationship qualities with family and friends.  Latent class regression analysis was used to test the association between suicidality and support network types.

Results: Four distinct support network types were identified: “optimal,” “ambivalent,” “strained,” and “isolated.”  Support network types were associated with suicide plans and attempts.  Overall, types characterized by high levels of negative interactions with family members were associated with higher rates of suicide planning.  This effect held despite the level of social integration.  Interestingly, respondents in the “optimal” type (characterized by high social integration and low negative interactions) were more likely to have planned and attempted suicide.  This finding is consistent with the resource mobilization model, which suggests that adversity motivates individuals to seek out support and assistance from their support networks in order to cope with the presenting problem.

Conclusions and Implications: This study underscores the important role of negative family interactions in mental health.  The findings also suggest that African Americans use social support/integration as a suicide prevention strategy or, among those with a history of suicide attempts, as a means to mobilize social resources to reduce the risk of future suicide attempts.  This demonstrates the importance of informal support as a resource for coping with stressors among African Americans.  Further, the findings indicate that support network types represent differing suicide risk profiles.  Consequently, this study has implications for social work practice and interventions.