Suicide Involving Intimate Partner Problems Among Immigrants in the U.S

Background: Individuals facing intimate partner problems (IPP) such as divorce, conflict, and violence often experience mental health issues, including suicidal thoughts and behaviors. According to the 2019 National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), 25% of suicides were linked to IPP in the US. Immigrants are particularly at risk of mental health problems and suicide due to the stress of acculturation, adding to the limited access to health care services. Although immigrants with IPP are increasingly vulnerable to suicidal thoughts, there have been few studies made to understand the comprehensive risk factors for suicide among this population. This study aims to identify distinct patterns of risk factors among immigrant suicide victims with IPP and determine if these patterns vary significantly based on sociodemographic characteristics, methods of suicide, and suicide disclosure patterns.

Methods: Data comprised seventeen waves of the NVDRS from 2003–2019, which includes 3,177 immigrant suicide victims facing IPP. A latent class analysis was conducted to identify groups of immigrant suicide victims based on seven dichotomous items reflecting the types of problems they had before committing suicide: mental health problem; depressed mood; alcohol problem; substance use; other addiction; current mental health treatment, and; mental health history. The number of latent classes was determined based on several goodness-of-fit statistics and substantial distinctions among classes. Differences across classes were examined by demographic and event characteristics subsequently.

Results: Three-class solution was identified: Low Risk (66.9%, n=2,126), with a low likelihood of having depressed mood; Mental Health (MH, 26.6%, n=844) with high probabilities of having mental health problem, and current and previous treatment experiences; Alcohol (6.5%, n=207) with a high probability of having alcohol problems and moderate probabilities of having substance and MH problems. More females were in the MH, while more males were in Alcohol. More Whites belonged to both MH and Alcohol, and more Hispanics were in Alcohol. More divorced ones were in MH, while never married were represented more in Low Risk. MH used firearms as a method of suicide more than Low Risk did. MH attempted suicide the most, followed by Alcohol. MH and Alcohol had history of suicidal thoughts and disclosed their suicidal thoughts more than Low Risk.

Conclusions: This study is a first-of-its-kind attempt to understand the distinctive patterns of risk factors among immigrant suicide victims with IPP using a robust national data set. Results demonstrate that immigrant suicide victims with IPP show unique risk factors as associated with their demographic and suicidal event characteristics. These findings can inform the development of assessment tools and targeted services and programs for preventing immigrant suicide, especially among individuals struggling with IPP. For example, social work practitioners working in marriage counseling, domestic violence, and health care settings may identify warning signs and tailor their service provision to the needs of different subgroups. Given the descriptive/exploratory nature of this study, future research needs to examine the process and mechanisms of immigrants with IPP being exposed to the idea of suicide and considering seriously committing it as influenced by the multitude of risk factors.