Associations between having been threatened or injured with a weapon and substance use and mental health among high school students in the United States

Relationship between suicide ideation and attempts, bully victimization, dating violence, and depressive symptoms among Black and Hispanic youth

BACKGROUND

Suicide rates among Black and Hispanic youth have been increasing over the past decade in the United States. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for suicide ideation and attempt among Black and Hispanic youth in the United States using intersectionality theory and minority stress theory as a framework.

METHODS

Data from the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS; 2015-2019) were analyzed and delimited to include only Black and Hispanic youth.

RESULTS

About 37% of the subsample identified as Black and 63% of the subsample identified as Hispanic; mean age was 16 years (SE = 0.02). Weighted multivariate logistic regressions were used to explore associations between suicide ideation and attempt, depressive symptoms, bullying, dating violence, and being threatened with a weapon. Black and Hispanic youth who had depressive symptoms, experienced bullying, dating violence, or threatened with a weapon all had increased odds of having suicide ideation and suicide attempt. Hispanic youth had the higher odds of suicide ideation and attempt than Black youth. Girls in the study also had elevated odds of suicide ideation.

CONCLUSION

This study adds to the literature on risk factors of suicide in Black and Hispanic youth and bringing to awareness the gender disparities in suicide ideation and attempt among youth.

Violence against children: multifaceted approaches to a complex problem

In this issue of the Journal, we highlight the problem of violence against children globally. We conceptualized this process and the thematic focus and widely disseminated an invitation to submit manuscripts. Each of us took the lead editorial role in a group of manuscripts submitted for this issue. Dr. Viswanathan led the review process for manuscripts submitted by Moe et. al, Seff et. al., Couture et. al, Osborne et. al, Khan et. al., and Friedman et. al. Dr Villaveces led the reviews of Pendharkar et. al, Tang et. al, Ryan et. al, Bravo Sanzana et. al, Flynn O’Brien et. al., Silverman et. al., and Taliep et.al. We hope that readers will see the complexities related to violence against children and get a better sense of the global implications of this problem.