Table 2.
Qualitative Themes that Emerged in Interviews with Latina Teens who Attempted Suicide (n = 17)
| Code | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Protective Factors | ||
| Family Connection | References events, feelings, activities, and circumstances that indicate and/or promote warmth, intimacy, support, and togetherness within the family, including ways participants feels supported by individual family members. | “They do support me. They tell me to keep going, to achieve … not to dream, just achieve what I want.” |
| Service Provider | A statement, event, or feeling that demonstrates support with a therapist or case manager. | “Like the only one that I really felt like close to, and the only one that I could like share my feeling with, was my therapist at the time.” |
| School Environment | An explicit reference to the ways the participant feels supported, connected, and/or engaged in the school community, including relationships or interactions with school staff such as teacher, police officer, principal | “This school’s better for me because they won’t have the problems I don’t want and need.” |
| Positive Ethnic Identity | Descriptions of pride, strength, and connection to participant’s ethnic identity | “When you represent your flag. That’s when I feel most Latina. We have pride. We speak out. We don’t let nobody bring us down or nothing.” |
| Risk Factors | ||
| Socioeconomic Strain | A description of parent’s (un)employment status, inability to meet subsistence needs, housing insecurity, or ways in which family members find ways to supplement household income. | “I was working there when I was 12 ‘cause my mom at the time, she was needing help, like with the bills and everything. So, I worked in Jersey.” |
| Neighborhood Risks | References feelings of fear, lack of safety, worry, stress, sadness, etc., that stem from neighborhood environment, in addition to experiences of risks at the neighborhood level, such as burglary, shootings, violence, or gang activity. | “Like we wouldn’t go outside as much. We wouldn’t go outside, or if one of us did go outside we would go as a group. We would never leave the house alone, stuff like that.” |
| Criminal Justice System | Can refer to a participant’s or family member’s involvement in the criminal justice system, including circumstances, feelings, perception, and experiences. | “The cops came to arrest him ‘cause they found out he had drugs in the basement. He got arrested, and he might get deported. And ever since then I haven’t seen him.” |
| Violence | Description of experiences of physical or sexual abuse, or witnessing domestic violence | “My stepfather did hit me, and I went to school the next day with a bruise on my face.” |
Notes. This table does not reflect all themes identified in analysis of interviews with participants and described in the project codebook. Additional themes associated with protective factors included perceptions of self-worth, coping skills, peer support, and community support. Additional themes associated with risk factors included family risk factors, barriers to mental health services, discrimination, peer victimization, cognitive vulnerabilities, risky behaviors, and school challenges.