Multiple-context assessment of suicidal ideation, depression, and substance use among African American adolescents
Open Access
- Author:
- Gilreath, Tamika DeLaine
- Graduate Program:
- Biobehavioral Health
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 23, 2007
- Committee Members:
- Gary King, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Collins O Airhihenbuwa, Committee Member
John Walter Graham, Committee Member
Aleksandra B Slavkovic, Committee Member - Keywords:
- mental health
African American
adolescents - Abstract:
- Studies have shown that depression, substance use, and suicidality are highly correlated, and suicidal ideation has been found to be predictive of later suicide attempts and completions. Addressing mental health and behavioral outcomes (e.g., substance use and depression) has been identified as crucial for healthy adolescent development. The present study adopts a pan-contextual assessment of the risk and protective factors that influence adolescent health behaviors and mental health employing the Social Development Model (SDM). The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between adolescent perceptions of interactions with adults within school and community settings, commitment and attachment to those settings, and suicidal ideation, substance use, and depressive symptoms. A purposive cluster sampling design was used to select 611 ninth grade students from each of three selected zoned high schools in a mid-size city. A cross-sectional survey was used to obtain data from predominately African American ninth graders regarding tobacco, alcohol, marijuana use, suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, and perceptions of individual-peer, family, school, and community norms and bonding. The statistical analyses consisted of prevalence, multiple regressions, and the assessment of a mediation model. There were several major findings from this study. First, the point prevalence of significant depressive symptoms as measured by the study was almost twice the national prevalence as reported by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Secondly, the results indicated that the multidimensional measure of suicidal ideation had higher predictive validity than the single-item measure and that a higher proportion of ideators were identified by the multiple-item measure than the single-item measure. Also, depressive symptoms were predicted by gender, community rewards for prosocial involvement, and attachment to neighborhood. This work contributes to the body of information regarding African American adolescent mental health in particular. More practically, it provided previously unavailable information about the prevalence of substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation to the mid-sized city school system in which the data were collected.