Ethnic Identity. Thwarted Belongingness, and Perceived Burdensomeness Among Latinx and Black Youth

Background and Purpose: Historically, the suicide field has relied heavily on psychiatric symptoms to explain suicide risk and intervene. Critical suicidology calls us to focus on sociocultural and contextual factors as a way to increase health equity in suicide research for which the social work profession is uniquely equipped. In this study, we focus on ethnic identity—a developmentally and culturally important task among ethnoracially minoritized adolescents—in the suicide context. Ethnic identity encompasses belongingness to one's ethnic group and positively affects self-esteem and well-being. The interpersonal theory of suicide proposes that thwarted belongingness (TB) and perceived burdensomeness (PB) caused individuals to think about suicide. We examined the association between ethnic identity, TB, and PB among a group of Latinx and Black adolescents and their impact on their mental health. We hypothesize that a stronger ethnic identity would be a protective factor against feelings of TB and PB, thus providing an opportunity to strengthen ethnic identity as a way to reduce suicide ideation risk.

Methods: We recruited Latinx and Black adolescents (N=61) from community centers in New York City as part of a supplemental cross-sectional and exploratory study to understand TB and PB among these youth. Inclusion criteria included: 1) self-identifying as Latinx or Black ethnicity, 2) being between 13 and 17 years old, 3) reporting a score of <10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire-Adolescent, and 4) speaking English or Spanish. Ethnic identity was measured with the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM), and TB and PB were measured with the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ-15). We collected sociodemographic characteristics. Bivariate relations among the ethnic identity and interpersonal factors of suicide TB and PB and linear multiple regression models were used to evaluate the association between ethnic identity (MEIM total score) as an independent variable and TB and PB as separate dependent variables. For each, we first fit an unadjusted model and then an adjusted model controlling for gender, age, ethnicity, language, income, and country of origin. Analyses were conducted in SPSS Version 29.

Results: Participants’ mean age was 15.1 (SD=1.4). Most participants were male (72.1%) and self-identified as Latinx (75.4%). In the adjusted model, individuals with higher total MEIM scores have lower expected levels of TB (b = -0.56, 95%CI = (-1.09, -0.03), p=.039). In addition, higher income was associated with higher TB (b = 0.01, 95%CI = (.001, .020), p=.043). In the unadjusted and adjusted model of MEIM and PB, PB was not significant. Yet, in the adjusted model, Spanish as a preferred language was associated with lower perceived burdensomeness (b = -1.13, 95%CI = (-1.96, -0.30), p=0.009).

Conclusions and Implications: In a non-clinical sample of Latinx and Black youth, strong ethnic identity was associated with low TB, an indicator of suicide ideation, but not with PB. These findings may suggest that strengthening ethnic identity could reduce TB and, in turn, reduce suicide ideation. Incorporating ethnic identity—including the Spanish language for Latinx youth—in the assessment and prevention of suicide ideation may prove valuable and relevant to ethnoracially minoritized youth.