Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Extended family and friendship support and suicidality among African Americans

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study examined the relationship between informal social support from extended family and friends and suicidality among African Americans.

Methods

Logistic regression analysis was based on a nationally representative sample of African Americans from the National Survey of American Life (N = 3263). Subjective closeness and frequency of contact with extended family and friends and negative family interaction were examined in relation to lifetime suicide ideation and attempts.

Results

Subjective closeness to family and frequency of contact with friends were negatively associated with suicide ideation and attempts. Subjective closeness to friends and negative family interaction were positively associated with suicide ideation and attempts. Significant interactions between social support and negative interaction showed that social support buffers against the harmful effects of negative interaction on suicidality.

Conclusions

Findings are discussed in relation to the functions of positive and negative social ties in suicidality.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Curtin SC, Warner M, Hedegaard H (2016) Increase in suicide in the US: 1999–2014. NCHS Data Brief No. 241. National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville

    Google Scholar 

  2. Murphy SL, Xu J, Kochanek KD (2013) Deaths: final data for 2010. Natl Vital Stat Rep 61(4):1–117

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015) Understanding suicide. http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/suicide_factsheet-a.pdf. Accessed 3 Mar 2015

  4. Van Orden KA, Witte TK, Cukrowicz KC, Braithwaite SR, Selby EA, Joiner TE Jr (2010) The interpersonal theory of suicide. Psychol Rev 117(2):575–600. doi:10.1037/a0018697

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Joiner T (2007) Why people die by suicide. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  6. McLaren S, Challis C (2009) Resilience among men farmers: the protective roles of social support and sense of belonging in the depression-suicidal ideation relation. Death Stud 33(3):262–276. doi:10.1080/07481180802671985

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. You S, Van Orden KA, Conner KR (2011) Social connections and suicidal thoughts and behavior. Psychol Addict Behav 25(1):180–184. doi:10.1037/a0020936

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Conner KR, Britton PC, Sworts LM, Joiner TE Jr (2007) Suicide attempts among individuals with opiate dependence: the critical role of belonging. Addict Behav 32(7):1395–1404. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2006.09.012

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hatcher S, Stubbersfield O (2013) Sense of belonging and suicide: a systematic review. Can J Psychiatry 58(7):432–436. doi:10.1177/070674371305800709

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Compton MT, Thompson NJ, Kaslow NJ (2005) Social environment factors associated with suicide attempt among low-income African Americans: the protective role of family relationships and social support. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 40(3):175–185. doi:10.1007/s00127-005-0865-6

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Harris TL, Molock SD (2000) Cultural orientation, family cohesion, and family support in suicide ideation and depression among African American college students. Suicide Life Threat Behav 30(4):341–353. doi:10.1111/j.1943-278X.2000.tb01100.x

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Marion MS, Range LM (2003) African American college women’s suicide buffers. Suicide Life Threat Behav 33(1):33–43. doi:10.1521/suli.33.1.33.22780

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Kaslow N, Thompson M, Meadows L, Chance S, Puett R, Hollins L, Jessee S, Kellermann A (2000) Risk factors for suicide attempts among African American women. Depress Anxiety 12(1):13–20. doi:10.1002/1520-6394(2000)12:1<13:AID-DA2>3.0.CO;2-Y

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Lincoln KD, Taylor RJ, Chatters LM, Joe S (2012) Suicide, negative interaction and emotional support among black Americans. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 47(12):1947–1958. doi:10.1007/s00127-012-0512-y

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Lincoln KD, Chae DH (2012) Emotional support, negative interaction and major depressive disorder among African Americans and Caribbean Blacks: findings from the National Survey of American Life. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 47(3):361–372. doi:10.1007/s00127-011-0347-y

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Taylor RJ, Chae DH, Lincoln KD, Chatters LM (2015) Extended family and friendship support networks are both protective and risk factors for major depressive disorder and depressive symptoms among African-Americans and Black Caribbeans. J Nerv Ment Dis 203(2):132–140. doi:10.1097/NMD.0000000000000249

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Lincoln KD, Chatters LM, Taylor RJ, Jackson JS (2007) Profiles of depressive symptoms among African Americans and Caribbean Blacks. Soc Sci Med 65(2):200–213. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.02.038

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Todd JL, Worell J (2000) Resilience in low-income, employed, African American women. Psychol Women Q 24(2):119–128. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2000.tb00192.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Nguyen AW, Chatters LM, Taylor RJ, Mouzon DM (2016) Social support from family and friends and subjective well-being of older African Americans. J Happiness Stud 17(3):959–979. doi:10.1007/s10902-015-9626-8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Gray BA, Keith VM (2003) The benefits and costs of social support for African American women. In: Brown DR, Keith VM (eds) In and out of our rights minds: the mental health of African American women. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 242–257

    Google Scholar 

  21. Lincoln KD, Chatters LM, Taylor RJ (2003) Psychological distress among Black and White Americans: differential effects of social support, negative interaction and personal control. J Health Soc Behav 44(3):390–407. doi:10.2307/1519786

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Adams RG, Blieszner R (1995) Aging well with friends and family. Am Behav Sci 39(2):209–224. doi:10.1177/0002764295039002008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Taylor RJ, Chatters LM, Woodward AT, Brown E (2013) Racial and ethnic differences in extended family, friendship, fictive kin, and congregational informal support networks. Fam Relat 62(4):609–624. doi:10.1111/fare.12030

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Jackson JS, Torres M, Caldwell CH, Neighbors HW, Nesse RM, Taylor RJ, Trierweiler SJ, Williams DR (2004) The National Survey of American Life: a study of racial, ethnic and cultural influences on mental disorders and mental health. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 13(4):196–207. doi:10.1002/mpr.177

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Levine DS, Taylor RJ, Nguyen AW, Chatters LM, Himle JA (2015) Family and friendship informal support networks and social anxiety disorder among African Americans and Black Caribbeans. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 50(7):1121–1133. doi:10.1007/s00127-015-1023-4

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Joe S, Baser RE, Breeden G, Neighbors HW, Jackson JS (2006) Prevalence of and risk factors for lifetime suicide attempts among Blacks in the United States. JAMA 296(17):2112–2123. doi:10.1001/jama.296.17.2112

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Kessler RC, Berglund P, Borges G, Nock M, Wang PS (2005) Trends in suicide ideation, plans, gestures, and attempts in the united states, 1990–1992 to 2001–2003. JAMA 293(20):2487–2495. doi:10.1001/jama.293.20.2487

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. WHO Mental Health Survey Consortium (2004) Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. JAMA 291(21):2581–2590. doi:10.1001/jama.291.21.2581

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kessler RC, Üstün TB (2004) The World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative version of the World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 13(2):93–121. doi:10.1002/mpr.168

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Kessler RC, Andrews G, Mroczek D, Ustun B, Wittchen HU (1998) The World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview short-form (CIDI-SF). Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 7(4):171–185. doi:10.1002/mpr.47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Wheaton B (1985) Models for the stress-buffering functions of coping resources. J Health Soc Behav 26(4):352–364. doi:10.2307/2136658

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Chatters LM, Taylor RJ, Lincoln KD, Nguyen A, Joe S (2011) Church-based social support and suicidality among African Americans and Black Caribbeans. Arch Suicide Res 15(4):337–353. doi:10.1080/13811118.2011.615703

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Balbuena L, Baetz M, Bowen R (2014) Religious attendance after elevated depressive symptoms: is selection bias at work? Peer J 2:e311. doi:10.7717/peerj.311

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The preparation of this manuscript was supported by Grants from the National Institute on Aging to Ann W. Nguyen (P30AG043073) and Robert Joseph Taylor (P30AG1528) and from the National Institute for General Medicine to Linda M. Chatters (NIGMS R25GM058641-15).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Edward R. Roybal Institute On Aging, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 1150 South Olive Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90015, USA

    Ann W. Nguyen & Karen D. Lincoln

  2. School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Robert Joseph Taylor & Linda M. Chatters

  3. George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Harry Owen Taylor

  4. Division of Community Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Uchechi A. Mitchell

Authors
  1. Ann W. Nguyen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert Joseph Taylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Linda M. Chatters
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Harry Owen Taylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Karen D. Lincoln
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Uchechi A. Mitchell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ann W. Nguyen.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nguyen, A.W., Taylor, R.J., Chatters, L.M. et al. Extended family and friendship support and suicidality among African Americans. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 52, 299–309 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1309-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1309-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation