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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2019 Sep 13;51(1):23–31. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2019.1655756

Forms of Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Suicidal Ideation: A Prospective Examination of African-American and Latinx Youth

Ijeoma Madubata 1, Leigh A Spivey 2, Gabriella M Alvarez 2, Enrique W Neblett 2, Mitchell J Prinstein 2
PMCID: PMC7067665  NIHMSID: NIHMS1540102  PMID: 31517518

Abstract

Objective

Although suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents, research revealing potent predictors of suicidal thoughts above and beyond the effects of depressive symptoms is limited, perhaps especially among racial and ethnic minority youth. This prospective study examined two subtypes of racial/ethnic discrimination (i.e., overt and more subtle forms), among African American and Latinx youth.

Method

Both African American (n = 85) and Latinx (n = 73) adolescents completed measures of perceived discrimination, suicidal ideation, and depression at baseline (9th grade spring) as well as a measure of suicidal ideation one-year later.

Results

Factor analyses revealed subscales reflecting both overt and more subtle forms of racial/ethnic discrimination, consistent with the concept of microaggressions. Findings revealed that subtle forms of discrimination were concurrently associated with suicidal ideation among African American and Latinx youth, and were prospectively associated with suicidal ideation among African American adolescents, above and beyond the effects of depressive symptoms.

Conclusions

Findings underscore the deleterious effects of subtle forms of discrimination on adolescents’ risk for suicidal thoughts.

Keywords: African Americans, Latinx, adolescents, suicidal ideation, discrimination

Suicide among adolescents represents a major public health crisis; suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth aged 15–24, and recent data suggest that the rates of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors are increasing (CDC, 2016). Once thought to be relevant mostly to adolescents of European-American or Native American heritage, rates of suicidal behavior among African American and Latinx youth have dramatically increased within the past decade (CDC, 2016), yet remarkably little research has examined self-injurious thoughts and behaviors among racial or ethnic minority youth. This study offered a relatively rare prospective examination of suicidal ideation exclusively among African American and Latinx youth to address the dearth of prior work in this area.

In the broad literature examining suicide risk, remarkably few potent risk factors for suicidal ideation or suicidal behavior have been identified (Franklin et al., 2017); however, most investigators agree that individuals’ interpersonal experiences likely are highly relevant for understanding suicidality (e.g., Joiner, 2005), perhaps especially among adolescents (Miller & Prinstein, 2019). Cross-sectional and longitudinal data, conducted most frequently within predominantly White samples, reveal that adolescents who feel ostracized, lonely, isolated, undervalued, socially attacked, and/or socially disparaged are especially likely to report high levels of suicidal behavior, and to engage in both nonsuicidal and suicidal self-injurious behaviors (see Massing-Schaffer et al., 2019). Moreover, adolescents who have attempted suicide frequently report that aversive interpersonal experiences (e.g., bullying, friendship alienation, romantic relationship breakups) were proximal precipitants to their life-threatening behavior (e.g., King & Merchant, 2008). Within minority samples of youth, therefore, it seems likely that racial/ethnic discrimination from peers would be highly relevant for understanding suicide risk; unfortunately, this has been woefully understudied in longitudinal work (Seaton & Iida, 2019; Walker, Francis, Brody, Simons, Cutrona, & Gibbons, 2017).

Racial/ethnic discrimination is defined as unfair, negative, and differential treatment towards others motivated by prejudice (Castle, Conner, Klaukein, & Tu, 2011; Walker et al., 2017). The experience of discrimination can be aversive and persistent. Many racial and ethnic minority adolescents report being victims of discrimination on a daily basis, and that discrimination experiences begin early in development (Seaton & Douglass, 2014). Not surprisingly, discrimination experiences are a significant source of minority stress (Benner et al., 2018), and have been associated with a wide array of adjustment and health indices both concurrently (e.g., Smith-Bynum, Lambert, English, & Ialongo, 2014) and longitudinally (e.g., see Jones & Neblett, 2017 for a review). Recent data reveal that discrimination also may be associated with adolescent suicide. For instance, Walker and colleagues (2017) reported a significant prospective association between perceived discrimination and a broad marker of “thoughts of death” (i.e., thinking about death, someone who had died, or being dead themselves) in a sample of African American early adolescents (also see Chao, Mallinckrodt, & Wei, 2012; Walker, Salami, Carter, & Flowers, 2014; Walker et al., 2017).

Yet, several shortcomings in prior literature should be addressed. First, most prior work has examined racial/ethnic discrimination by peers as a unitary construct. However, research has identified at least at least two forms of discrimination experiences that may exert differential effects on suicide. Overt forms of discrimination include blatant and overt acts of prejudice, victimization, slurs, or explicit disparities in access to resources based on race or ethnicity. For youth, examples of overt forms of discrimination may include direct verbal or physical harassment on the basis of race or ethnicity. In contrast, more subtle forms of discrimination, sometimes referred to as microaggressions, can involve unfriendly verbal and nonverbal communications that reflect prejudicial assumptions, inequities, and unjust behavior towards members of minority groups (Sue et al., 2007).

These subtle forms of discrimination may be especially relevant for understanding suicide risk. While blatant and overtly discriminatory acts readily reveal antagonists as racist, and may elicit rapid responses from others who witness vicious attacks, subtle discrimination may be observed only among victims, and convey to an individual that they belong to a marginalized group (Sue et al., 2007). Interpersonal interactions that convey to minority youth (1) an assumption of lesser intelligence; (2) myths of meritocracy (i.e. the assumption that an individual’s success is due to hard work and not privileges awarded based on one’s White majority status); or (3) assumptions that an ethnic or racial minority individual’s cultural background is inferior to White culture and heritage each are included among these more subtle forms of discrimination, and collectively have been referred to in prior literature as “microaggressions” (Sue et al., 2007; Sue, Alsaidi, Awad, Glaeser, Calle, & Mendez, 2019). Sadly, many unwittingly invalidate minority youths’ experience of subtle discrimination, suggesting that victims have misperceived discriminatory acts (Nadal, Wong, Sriken, Griffin, & Fujii-Doe, 2015), or that minority youth exhibit hostile biases that have influenced their cue interpretations (i.e., a claim that largely neglects minority members’ frequent experience with racism, and ironically may reflect a microaggression in itself). Thus, subtle discrimination experiences may be less likely to elicit social support, or may leave victims questioning their own social abilities (Sue, Capodilupo, & Holder, 2008), and thus are closely associated with risk for distress (e.g., Nadal et al., 2015), perhaps including suicide. Indeed, significant associations between subtle forms of discrimination and suicidal ideation have been revealed among adults (O’Keefe, Wingate, Cole, Hollingsworth, & Tucker, 2015), but not previously studied among adolescents.

A second shortcoming in prior work has been a lack of research examining whether the association between forms of discrimination and suicidal ideation might differ across minority racial and ethnic identity groups. Yet, given different cultural histories of discrimination among minority groups, varying levels of social integration, and ethnic/racial economic disparities in the U.S., there is reason to suspect that the effects of discrimination may vary considerably. For instance, Forrest-Bank and Jenson (2015), revealed that African Americans reported the most frequent accounts of subtle discrimination compared to Asian, Latinx, and White individuals, while Latinx individuals reported more frequent experiences with being fetishized or considered homogeneous. Unfortunately, no prior study has examined racial or ethnic group differences in the association between subtypes of discrimination and suicidal ideation, suggesting an urgent need for more research.

This study examined associations among overt and more subtle forms of racial/ethnic discrimination and suicidal ideation with three aims. First, preliminary factor analyses examined whether adolescents’ self-reported experiences of discrimination suggested different response patterns based on overt and observable forms of discrimination vs. more indirect and ambiguous discriminatory acts. Consistent with prior research, it was expected that African American adolescents would report more frequent experiences of subtle discrimination than would Latinx youth. Next, concurrent correlations were examined to determine whether each type of discrimination reported by adolescents was associated with suicidal ideation, among African American and Latinx youth. Last, prospective associations were examined to determine whether discrimination experiences among peers were associated with suicidal ideation above and beyond the effects of depressive symptoms, and whether racial/ethnic identity moderated these results. Given historic patterns of discrimination in the region where data were collected (US rural south), it was expected that peer discrimination would be associated with suicidal ideation particularly among African American adolescents as compared to Latinx adolescents included in this sample. Addressing limitations of prior work, prospective longitudinal associations were examined among adolescents experiencing a critical developmental vulnerability period associated with marked increases in the prevalence of suicidal ideation (CDC, 2016).

Method

Participants

This study included a total of 157 African American and Latinx adolescents (50.3% identified as female). Participants who identified as Latinx varied in their country of origin, with the majority of the sample from Mexico (68.8%) and the remainder from El Salvador (10.9%), Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic (7.8%), Honduras (7.8%), Guatemala (3.1%), and Costa Rica (1.5%). Among Latinx youth, 48.7% were born outside of the US, with 65% from Mexico and 14% from Honduras1. All participants were in the 9th grade at the baseline assessment, and ranged in age from 14 to 17 (M age = 15.01 years, SD = 0.53). The study took place in a rural, low income school district in the southeast US, where 67% of students in the district are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. The study sample was broadly representative of the school district from which it was drawn, which includes 51% male, 45% White/Caucasian, 27% Black/African American, 26% Latinx, 2% American Indian/ Asian/Pacific Islander.

Measures

Perceived Discrimination from Peers

The Way Discrimination Scale was administered to assess perceived discrimination from peers (Rosenbloom & Way, 2004). This 21-item scale (reflecting 18 negative- and 3 positively-valenced prejudicial attitudes) assessed the frequency with which participants experienced various forms of racially- or ethnically-motivated discrimination from other students in their school in the past six months (see Table 1) on a five-point Likert-type scale (“never” to “all the time”). The Way Discrimination Scale has demonstrated adequate validity and reliability in previous research with African American and Latinx adolescents (e.g., Greene, Way, & Pahl, 2006). Factor analyses of items on this measure are reported below.

Table 1.

Factor Loadings based on a Principal Component Analysis with a Varimax Rotation

Item – How often do you feel that other students: Factor 1: Subtle Discrimination Factor 2: Overt Discrimination
 ..are nervous around you because of your race or ethnicity? .78
 ..feel threatened by you because of your race or ethnicity? .77
 ..expect that you will get BAD grades because of your race or ethnicity? .76 .32
 ..treat you like you’re NOT as good as them because of your race or ethnicity? .72 .34
 ..don’t listen to your thought on things because of your race or ethnicity? .70
 ..are suspicious of you because of your race or ethnicity? .70
 ..are uncomfortable around you because of your race or ethnicity? .69 .45
 ..think that you won’t know the answer in class because of your race or ethnicity? .68
 ..treat you like you’re NOT smart because of your race or ethnicity? .68
 ..treat you with less respect because of your race or ethnicity? .65 .30
 ..treat you unfairly because of your race or ethnicity? .59 .58
 ..are afraid of you because of your race or ethnicity? .55
 ..treat you like a troublemaker because of your race or ethnicity? .54 .45
 ..call you names because of your race or ethnicity? .85
 ..pick on you because of your race or ethnicity? .84
 ..insult you because of your race or ethnicity? .31 .80
 ..harass you because of your race or ethnicity? .79
 ..make fun of you because of your race or ethnicity? .78
          Eigenvalue 6.35 4.69
          % of Total Variance 35.27 26.08
          Total Variance 61.35
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Note. Factor loadings < .3 are suppressed.

Suicidal Ideation

Adolescents reported suicidal ideation on a well-established, 10-item measure that assessed frequency of thoughts of suicide over the past three months (e.g., “I thought about how I would kill myself”) using a 5-point scale from “never” to “almost every day” (e.g., Heilbron & Prinstein, 2010; Guan, Fox, & Prinstein, 2012). A mean score across all items was computed such that higher scores indicate higher frequency of suicidal thoughts. Internal consistency was high (alpha = .86 and .95 at Times 1 and 2).

Depressive Symptoms

The 33-item Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) was used to assess depressive symptoms within the past two weeks (Costello & Angold, 1988). Participants responded to items (e.g., “I felt miserable or unhappy”) using a three-point Likert-type scale (not true, somewhat true, very true). High values on a mean score indicated more severe depressive symptoms. Internal consistency was excellent (α = .93).

Procedure

All students in the 9th grade at three high schools in one rural district were invited to participate in a large-scale longitudinal study. A total of 712 students received parental consent forms, 75% returned their consent form, and 80% of the returned forms provided consent for their child to participate in the study. Thus, the total consented sample included 423 adolescents (reflecting 59.4% of total gradewide population). Parental consent forms were provided to participants in both English and Spanish. Participants were included in analyses for the current study if they participated at baseline and self-identified as African American (n=84; 45.2% female) or Latinx (n=73; 56.2% female); together these students represented 37.14% of the full consented sample. Participants who indicated that they identified as multiracial, or an “other”/unspecified ethnic group (n = 32) were not included in the data analyses for this study.

Of the 157 adolescents who participated at baseline, 128 completed the follow-up assessment. Reasons for attrition included school withdrawal (n=13), school absence during data collection (n=9), a family move outside the school catchment area (n = 5), and voluntary study withdrawal (n=2). Attrition analyses revealed no significant differences between participants who completed the follow-up assessment and those who did not on any baseline measures included in this study (all ps > .05).

Baseline data collection occurred in the spring of students’ 9th grade, and the follow-up assessment occurred one year later. Following participants’ written assent, adolescents completed written measures in their school auditorium or cafeteria, with space between available seats and privacy screens used to promote honest responses to sensitive questions. Reports of suicide were addressed using an established protocol for imminent risk assessment and reporting (Helms & Prinstein, 2014). Participants received a $5 gift card for their participation at each time point. This study was approved by the university Institutional Review Board.

Data Analysis

Using SPSS, preliminary analyses included factor analyses to identify the factor structure of the Way Discrimination Scale in this sample. Descriptive analyses next were conducted to examine bivariate correlations between measures and to examine differences between racial/ethnic groups. To test the primary hypothesis regarding longitudinal associations among forms of discrimination and suicidal ideation, a multiple group (i.e., African American, Latinx) path analysis was conducted using AMOS Version 18 (Arbuckle, 2009). Missing data were imputed using maximum likelihood estimation in AMOS. Baseline measures of suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, as well as both overt and subtle forms of discrimination, were entered as predictors of suicidal ideation at follow-up. Entering these variables as simultaneous predictors allowed for the examination of the associations between each predictor and suicidal ideation at follow-up, after controlling for all other associations.

Significant interactions by racial/ethnic minority group (i.e., African American and Latinx) were examined by systematically allowing paths and covariances to remain fixed or freely-vary. Chi-squared difference tests revealed significant differences in path weights between racial/ethnic minority groups.

Results

Factor Analysis

A factor analysis of the 18 items on the Way Discrimination Scale that reflected negative experiences of perceived discrimination using principal component analysis with a varimax rotation revealed three factors (all eigenvalues >1; 68.2% cumulative variance explained). However, two of the factors were highly correlated, r(155) = .74, p < .001, and appeared to capture similar constructs. Thus, the factor analysis was re-run to extract two factors, which confirmed that the two highly-correlated initial factors loaded onto the same factor (Table 1). Of the two final subscales, the first appeared to capture subtle and ambiguous forms of discrimination (13 items; α = .93; see Table 1), while the second reflected more overt or observable forms of discrimination (5 items; α= .91, see Table 1).

Preliminary Analyses

Descriptive statistics for all study variables are presented in Table 2. African American and Latinx participants did not differ in reported levels of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation at baseline or follow-up, or perceived overt discrimination. At baseline, 44.7% of African American participants and 37% of Latinx participants reported some suicidal thoughts (i.e., mean scores > 1). At follow-up, 37.1% of African American participants and 39.7% of Latinx participants reported some suicidal thoughts. As compared to Latinx youth, African American participants reported a significantly higher frequency of subtle discrimination from peers, t(152) = 2.69, p = .008.

Table 2.

Descriptive Statistics (scale means) and Tests of Racial/Ethnic Differences

African American (n = 84) Latinx (n = 73) Full Sample (n = 157)
Variable M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) Range T-Test
Subtle Discrimination 1.69 (0.85) 1.37 (0.57) 1.54 (0.74) 1–5 t(152) = 2.69**
Overt Discrimination 1.32 (0.62) 1.42 (0.76) 1.37 (0.69) 1–5 t(152) = −0.98
Depressive Symptoms 0.38 (0.35) 0.40 (0.32) 0.38 (0.33) 0–1.48 t(154) = −0.47
Baseline Suicidal Ideation 1.23 (0.53) 1.15 (0.26) 1.19 (0.43) 1–4.5 t(155) = 1.23
Follow-up Suicidal Ideation 1.32 (0.77) 1.27 (0.63) 1.30 (0.71) 1–4.86 t(126) = 0.39
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Note.

**

p < .01. N for analyses varies due to missing data on measures of interest and attrition at follow-up.

Concurrent Associations

Bivariate correlations between continuous variables are presented in Table 3a for the full sample (see Table 3b for bivariate correlations split by race/ethnicity). Overt and subtle subtypes of discrimination were positively associated with one another. Suicidal ideation at baseline was positively associated with suicidal ideation at follow-up, and was positively associated with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms at baseline were positively associated with all other variables of interest.

Table 3a.

Bivariate Correlations between Continuous Variables for Full Sample

Overt Discrimination Depressive Symptoms Baseline Suicidal Ideation Follow-up Suicidal Ideation
Subtle Discrimination .63*** .28*** .29*** .22*
Overt Discrimination .17* .14† .07
Depressive Symptoms .61*** .35***
Baseline Suicidal Ideation .28**
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Note.

***

p<.001

**

p<.01

*

p<.05

†

p=.076

Table 3b.

Bivariate Correlations between Continuous Variables by Race/Ethnicity

Subtle Discrimination Overt Discrimination Depressive Symptoms Baseline Suicidal Ideation Follow-up Suicidal Ideation
Subtle Discrimination -- .62*** .31** .30** .39**
Overt Discrimination .80*** -- .07 .21† .22
Depressive Symptoms .28* .26* -- .70*** .43***
Baseline Suicidal Ideation .22† .08 .50*** -- .37**
Follow-up Suicidal Ideation −.10 −.10 .23 .03 --
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Note. Bivariate correlations among African American participants are listed above the diagonal, and bivariate correlations among Latinx participants are listed below the diagonal.

***

p<.001

**

p<.01

*

p<.05

†

p<.06

Analysis of zero-order concurrent associations within racial/ethnic groups (Table 3b) revealed that for both African American and Latinx youth, reports of subtle discrimination at Time 1 were associated with suicidal ideation at the same time point; however, among Latinx youth, findings were marginally significant. Overt discrimination was marginally associated with suicidal ideation among African American youth.

Longitudinal Predictors of Suicidal Ideation

Table 4 presents results from all path analyses, including covariances among all baseline predictors (i.e., suicidal ideation, depression symptoms, overt and subtle discrimination) and prospective associations with suicidal ideation at follow-up. Race/ethnic group moderation was examined by allowing all path weights and covariances to freely-vary or remain fixed across groups based on the results of chi-squared difference tests. Results indicated that three covariances should be allowed to freely vary across groups. The covariance between baseline suicidal ideation and subtle discrimination, between baseline suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms, and between overt discrimination and depressive symptoms each was significantly stronger for African American than Latinx participants. For path weights, results examining racial/ethnic moderation also revealed one significant effect for the longitudinal association between subtle discrimination at baseline and suicidal ideation at follow-up (after controlling for all other predictors); results also were significantly stronger for African American than Latinx youth. For both racial/ethnic groups, depressive symptoms at baseline were associated prospectively with higher suicidal ideation at follow-up, and although a significant autocorrelation for suicide ideation was observed in zero-order correlations, baseline ideation was not significantly associated with later suicide ideation once all predictors (e.g., depression) were considered in the model. Overt discrimination also was not significantly associated with ideation over time. The resulting overall model fit was excellent, χ2(6) = 3.32, p = .768, χ2/DF = 0.55, CFI = 1.00, NFI = 0.99, RMSEA = .00 (90% CI: .00 – .07).

Table 4.

Covariances Among Baseline Predictors and Path Coefficients Predicting Follow-up Suicidal Ideation

Predictors Outcome
Predictors Baseline Suicidal Ideation Depressive Symptoms Overt Discrimination Microaggressions Follow-up Suicidal Ideation
 Baseline Suicidal Ideation -- .12 (.02) *** .03 (.02) .09 (.04) * 0.09 (.17)
 Depressive Symptoms .05 (.01) *** -- −.01 (.02) .06 (.02)*** 0.61 (.22)**
 Overt Discrimination .03 (.02) .08 (.03) ** -- .33 (.05)*** −0.06 (.12)
 Microaggressions .04 (.02) ** .06 (.02)*** .33 (.05)*** -- 0.33 (.11) **
Outcome
 Follow-Up Suicidal Ideation 0.09 (.17) 0.61 (.22)** −0.06 (.12) −0.14 (.19) --
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Note. Covariances, path coefficients, and standard errors for African American participants are listed above the diagonal and those for Latinx participants are listed below the diagonal. Bolded entries represent estimates that were significantly different between African American and Latinx youth.

*

p <.05

**

p <.01

***

p < .001

Discussion

This study examined longitudinal associations between two forms of perceived discrimination and suicidal ideation in a sample of racial and ethnic minority adolescents. This study was unique in its examination of both African American and Latinx youth, allowing for comparisons on key study constructs, and associations among them that might differ by racial/ethnic group membership. In this study, comparable rates of suicidal ideation were reported by African American and Latinx adolescents, consistent with recent findings regarding increasing rates of suicide among most all minority groups (CDC, 2016), and underscoring the importance of suicide research among ethnic and racial minority populations. Note that a substantial proportion of all youth in this study reported at least some ideation within the two years captured by study assessments, suggesting that schoolwide screenings, universal prevention, and suicide awareness campaigns may be critical for all youth, including those who are not White.

A focus of this investigation was the identification and examination of racial/ethnic discrimination subtypes as potential prospective predictors of adolescents’ suicidal ideation, as well as possible differences in the magnitude of associations across African American and Latinx youth. Findings from factor analyses indeed suggested two discrete forms of discrimination based on adolescents’ self-report. One reflected overt forms of discrimination and a second reflected more subtle, albeit detectable attempts (as reported by respondents) to treat ethnic minority members as inferior, less capable, or marginalized, consistent with definitions of microaggressions in prior work (Sue et al., 2017). African Americans reported more frequent experiences of subtle as compared to overt discrimination, however, Latinx youth reported no significant differences. This may reflect a longstanding history of racism within the US south, where racial/ethnic discrimination experiences are much more common for African Americans relative to Latinx youth, who are a relatively recent presence in the county where data for this particular study were collected (i.e., there has been an approximately 50% increase in Latinx families in the past decade). However, it is not clear whether these results would generalize to other US communities, or may change as discriminatory attitudes to immigrants to the US have changed. In other words, it is unclear whether findings reflect a universal difference in the experience of African American and Latinx youth within the US, or more likely a difference that may reflect the context in which these data are collected. Perhaps especially for the study of ethnic/racial minority experiences in the US, it is critical for study results to be replicated in numerous communities and with a diversity of African American and Latinx participants; the pattern of findings regarding the frequency of discrimination experiences must be interpreted with regard to the context in which these particular participants reside (Knight, Roosa, & Umaña-Taylor, 2009).

A central goal of this study was to examine suicide risk. Findings revealed that discrimination experiences reported by adolescents were associated with thoughts of suicide, both concurrently and longitudinally. At baseline, findings revealed associations between subtle forms of discrimination and suicidal ideation that were statistically significant among African American and marginally significant among Latinx adolescents. Longitudinal results suggested that subtle forms of discrimination were associated with increases in suicidal ideation over time among African Americans, revealing a rare predictor above and beyond the effects of depressive symptoms on suicidality (Franklin et al., 2017). It is interesting that findings did not reveal longitudinal effects of overt discrimination on suicidal ideation; nor did results among Latinx youth did not reach significance. Each of these points is discussed below.

Findings regarding the absence of a significant longitudinal association between overt discrimination and suicidal ideation initially may seem surprising. However, results are consistent with recent research suggesting differences in the frequency and impact of overtly racist acts that provide a context to understand results revealed in this study. Solorzano and colleagues (2000) argue that social sanctions have markedly decreased the prevalence of overt aggression and have instead been replaced by subtle, more “acceptable,” expressions of discrimination. Indeed, overt discrimination often provokes contextual responses, including social support that serve as a buffer for suicidal ideation. This is an area ripe for future research that may have important application for the development of interventions that can be used immediately following stressful experiences among vulnerable youth.

In contrast to the findings on overt discrimination, results revealed that subtle discrimination may indeed have damaging and lasting effects, including an association with increased thoughts to end one’s life. Findings offer a stark contrast to contemporary assumptions that subtle discrimination may represent minor occurrences, interpersonal misunderstandings, or innocuous unspoken biases. Rather, results add to a body of work revealing that subtle discrimination may affect individual’s self-esteem, provoke increased threat vigilance, feelings of rejection, and physiological stress responses (e.g., Sue et al., 2007; Torres, Driscoll, & Burrow, 2010), each of which may be risk factors for suicidal ideation (e.g., Walker, 2007).

Findings revealed concurrent (marginal), but not longitudinal associations between discrimination and suicidal ideation among Latinx youth in contrast to prior work with adults (O’Keefe et al., 2015). Findings might reflect a statistical artifact produced from lower variance in reports of microaggressions among Latinx youth, as compared to African American adolescents in this sample, or may suggest differences in the effects of different forms of discrimination might have for Latinx versus African American adolescents. Until further research is available, findings should be interpreted cautiously and may reflect a need for larger studies that capture heterogeneity within Latinx populations, larger sample sizes, or an assessment of additional forms of discrimination that may be especially relevant for some Latinx youth, including recent immigrants (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2019). Note that data were not available in this study to examine ethnic differences among Latinx youth, which also may prove useful for further consideration when examining suicide risk.

Future work in this area would benefit by addressing several limitations of this study. First, as noted above, greater attention is needed to understand heterogeneity within Latinx populations (e.g., Mexican vs. Central American origin; generational status; multiracial identities; see Chavez-Dueñas, Adames, Perez-Chavez, & Salas, 2019). Viruell-Fuentes, (2007) revealed that generational status may moderate the association between discrimination and wellbeing, suggesting a need for greater attention in future suicide research. More research also is needed to examine mediating mechanisms (e.g., depression) that may explain associations between discrimination and suicide ideation. Multi-wave studies, the use of multiple-informants to examine discrimination experiences, and real-time methods to understand the proximity between discrimination and suicidal thoughts also is needed.

In sum, this study offered a rare and critical focus on racial/ethnic minority adolescents’ risks for suicide ideation, revealing that after controlling for blatant, observable, and arguably egregious forms of discrimination, the presence of subtle, ambiguous, competence-undermining forms of discrimination from peers may be a significant prospective predictor of suicide ideation, beyond the effects of established predictors, such as depressive symptoms. Findings underscore the need to attend to all discriminatory experiences with vigilance and empathy, given the potential for their psychological harm among youth.

Acknowledgements

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. 1256065, awarded to Leigh A. Spivey, and Grant No. DGE-1650116, awarded to Gabriella M. Alvarez. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Footnotes

1

Findings among Latinx youth who were vs. were not born in the US revealed no significant differences in adolescents’ report of microaggressions, t (68) = 1.11, p = .272. However, Latinx adolescents born in the US reported significantly lower levels of overt discrimination, (M = 1.20; SD = .40), and significantly lower variability (Levene’s Equal Variance Test = 10.38, p = .002), than adolescents who were born outside of the US (M = 1.52; SD = .80), t (46.12) = 2.05, p = .038.

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