Pathways from Bullying Victimization to Suicidal Thoughts Among Urban African American Adolescents in Chicago’s Southside

Background and Purpose: Suicide is the third leading cause of death among African American youth, who are also more likely to be involved in bullying than their peers of other races. Victims of bullying experience mental health problems, such as internalizing behaviors, which can increase their odds of suicidal thoughts. Numerous empirical studies have explored the association between bullying victimization and suicidal behaviors. However, studies to date have not fully addressed the association between victimization and suicidal behavior among urban African American youth. Joiner’s (2005) Interpersonal Theory of Suicide, which consists of (a) thwarted belongingness, (b) perceived burdensomeness, and (c) acquired capability of suicide, might explain why youth who are bullied and socially disconnected might develop suicidal behaviors. Victims might feel socially isolated from their peers and feel a sense of worthlessness to others in school, which can decrease their self-esteem and increase depression and hopelessness. The aim of this study is to examine a proposed pathway linking bullying victimization and suicidal thoughts through low self-esteem, depression, and hopelessness from a sample of urban African American adolescents in Chicago’s Southside.

Method: Data were collected between August 2013 and January 2014, and participants consisted of 639 African American youths (ages 13-21) from low-income neighborhoods in Chicago’s Southside. Of these, 45.5% were males and 54.2% females, and 74.6% received government assistance. Measures for the study included age, sex, government assistance, bullying victimization, hopelessness, low self-esteem, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Cross-sectional research design and self-reported surveys were used. Analyses included descriptive statistics, correlational analyses, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with Mplus. Controlling for biological sex, age, and government assistance, we hypothesized that (a) bullying victimization is associated with an increase in the risk of suicidal thoughts; and (b) low self-esteem, depression, and hopelessness would mediate the association between the two.

Results: The goodness-of-fit-indices for the path model are CFI=.927, TLI=.905, RMSEA=.058 (90% CI=.051~.065, SRMR=.053). These estimated fit indices indicated an acceptable model fit. For the first hypothesis, bullying victimization was positively associated with low self-esteem (β=.016, p=.000) and depression (β=.239, p=.000). Suicidal thoughts were positively associated with low self-esteem (β=.159, p=.021), depression (β=.344, p=.041), and hopelessness (β=.031, p=.000). Low self-esteem was positively associated with depression (β=.243, p=.000) and hopelessness (β=.296, p=.001). For the second hypothesis, we found that bullying victimization was positively associated with depression, depression was significantly related to hopelessness, and hopelessness contributed to an increase in suicidal thoughts (β=.063, CI=.004~.123).

Conclusions and Implications: As our findings show, victims of bullying are likely to exhibit low self-esteem and depression, and depression can contribute to feelings of hopelessness, thereby increasing suicidal thoughts. Based on our findings, practitioners working with urban adolescents who are victims of bullying need to thoroughly assess their mental health problems, which might increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Although anti-bullying programs are widely implemented in school districts, financial constraints are common barriers for schools located in low-resource neighborhoods. Therefore, practitioners working with urban youth need to consider cost-effective programs.