Cultural Orientation, Family Cohesion, and Family Support in Suicide Ideation and Depression among African American College Students

• Published in: Suicide & life-threatening behavior Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 341 - 353
• Main Authors: Harris PhD, Treniece Lewis, Molock PhD, Sherry Davis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2000; Guilford; Human Sciences Press
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; African Americans - psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Black Students; College Students; Cultural Influences; Depression; Depression (Psychology); Family - psychology; Family Influence; Family Relationship; Female; Higher Education; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Mid-Atlantic Region; Mood disorders; Predictor Variables; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Regression Analysis; Risk Factors; Social Support; Students - psychology; Suicide; Suicide - ethnology; Suicide - prevention & control; Suicide - psychology; Mid-Atlantic Region; Human; Mood disorder; Social environment; Depression; Student; Group cohesiveness; Cultural environment; Adolescent; Young adult; Risk factor; Family environment; Black American; Suicide ideation; Psychological well being; Social support
• ISSN: 0363-0234; 1943-278X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1943-278X.2000.tb01100.x

This study extends previous research by examining the role of communalism, family cohesion, and family support in suicide ideation and depression in African American college students. Participants were 188 African American introductory psychology students (126 female, 61 male) from a historically black college.1 Results showed that communalism, family cohesion, and family support were positively associated with each other. Higher levels of family cohesion and family support were associated with lower levels of suicide ideation and depression. Linear regression analyses showed a main effect for communalism and family support. Having strong communal values was positively related to suicide ideation and depression. Having strong family support was associated with fewer experiences of suicide ideation and depression. Stepwise regression analyses indicated that family support explained more variance in suicide ideation and depression than family cohesion. Implications of these results for future research and practice are discussed.