Suicide & life-threatening behavior
Volume 46, Issue 3, 2016, Pages 301-312

A Cross-National Comparison of Suicide Attempts, Drug Use, and Depressed Mood Among Dominican Youth (Article)

Peña J.B. , Masyn K.E. , Thorpe L.E. , Peña S.M. , Caine E.D.
  • a Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, New York, NY, USA, United States
  • b School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA, United States
  • c CUNY School of Public Health, Hunter College, New York, NY, USA, United States
  • d Callen Lorde Community Health Center, New York, NY, USA, United States
  • e Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA, United States

Abstract

We compared suicide attempts, depressed mood, and drug use of 1,710 Dominican public high school students in New York City (NYC) and 9,573 in the Dominican Republic (DR) in 2009. Compared to DR Dominicans, NYC Dominicans were more likely to have reported lifetime marijuana use (27.6% vs. 1.5%), lifetime inhalant use (11.0% vs. 7.6%), lifetime other drug use (9.9% vs. 3.0%), depressed mood (31.3% vs. 27.2%), and suicide attempt (13.8% vs. 8.8%). The results of this study supported the hypothesis that substantial increases in illicit drug use, especially cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and methamphetamines, among NYC Dominican youth account for their increased risk for suicide attempts compared to their DR Dominican counterparts. It also identified suicide attempts as a public health problem among NYC Dominicans, the largest NYC Latino immigrant population. © 2015 The American Association of Suicidology.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

Population Surveillance human suicide attempt statistics and numerical data Substance-Related Disorders Suicide, Attempted ethnology Dominican Republic Surveys and Questionnaires student Humans psychology New York Adolescent male female questionnaire New York City Students health survey
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85027919711&doi=10.1111%2fsltb.12189&partnerID=40&md5=1bea783a27e87654ccf62480b1afc5cd
DOI: 10.1111/sltb.12189
ISSN: 1943278X
Cited by: 2
Original Language: English