The Dangerous Side of Social Ties: The Influence of Peer Depression on the Risk of Suicidal Ideation Among Homeless Youth

Background and Purpose: Homeless youth are at elevated risk for experiencing suicidal ideation, which serves as a warning sign for suicidal behavior. Suicide theory and research has often promoted the protective value of social connectedness—exemplified by the recent CDC initiative focusing on connectedness as a suicide prevention strategy—and generally neglected the potential risks associated with social connectedness. Given that peer affiliation in social networks of homeless youth can influence a range of risky behaviors (e.g. substance use, risky sex), it is critical to better understand the extent to which affiliation may also affect suicide risk in this vulnerable group. Peer depression, which can be “contagious”, represents a potentially dangerous social toxin that may elevate suicide risk. The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between peer depression exposure and suicidal ideation among homeless youth.

Method: We utilized data from the first panel of a longitudinal, social network study of homeless youth. Participants (N=383) were sampled from two drop-in centers in Los Angeles. Youth completed a survey and social network interview. Sociometric networks of youth were constructed and a measure of depression exposure was derived.  Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to examine associations between peer depression exposure and suicidal ideation.

Results: Nearly one-fifth of the sample endorsed having experienced suicidal ideation in the past year. On average, more than one-quarter of a youth’s peers were depressed.  In univariable analyses, being connected to greater proportions of depressed peers increased the likelihood of suicidal ideation (OR: 4.14; 95% CI= 2.05, 8.32). In the multivariable model, greater exposure to depressed peers remained associated with suicidal ideation (OR: 3.63; 95% CI= 1.67, 7.92) while controlling for a broad range of individual factors.

Conclusions and Implications: This study found that being embedded in a peer group with a higher concentration of depressed members increased the likelihood of experiencing suicidal ideation. A point of emphasis is that exposure to peers’ depression was found to increase the risk of suicidal ideation above and beyond a set of individual factors that included a youth’s own depression status. This suggests that treating any given youth who has depression in isolation to prevent suicidal ideation may be only transiently effective. Suicide prevention programming, which tends to be implemented in schools, is likely to miss many homeless youth and does not typically address dyadic exposure to suicidogenic factors. Identifying and treating depression in naturally occurring friendship groups among homeless youth represents a promising network-level intervention.