(PS9-B34) Differential Correlates of Suicidal Ideation and Attempts in Latino and Asian Americans

Despite the size and contributions of the Latino and Asian communities in the United States, little is known about factors contributing to poor mental health in these populations. Studies indicate that while both are some of the least frequent users of American mental health facilities, their mental health is often worse than that of their White counterparts (Bridges et al., 2012; Lee et al., 2016). The present study seeks to understand factors associated with suicidal ideation and attempts in these subgroups. Using the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS), the impact of various psychosocial factors on suicidal ideation and attempts were investigated. The NLAAS is a nationally representative household survey with both Asian (n = 2095) and Latino (n = 2554) respondents. The NLAAS was open to adult participants in all 50 states, administered in the respondent’s preferred language, and included a wide range of ages, educational backgrounds, and household incomes. Differences in factors associated with lifetime and 12-month experiences of suicidal ideation and attempts were compared in Asian and Latino Americans using path analysis with a robust maximum likelihood (MLR) estimator to account for the non-normal distributions of the outcomes. Experiences of discrimination, acculturative stress, social support, family cohesion, consequences of substance abuse, depression severity, and functional impairment associated with chronic medical conditions were included. Results indicated that, for Asian participants, acculturative stress (standard estimate = -0.07, p = 0.01), discrimination (stand. est. = 0.13, p < 0.001), family cohesion, social support from friends (stand. est. = -0.06, p = 0.02), and depression severity (stand. est. = -0.17, p < 0.001) were associated with lifetime suicidal ideation, with the largest effect being for family cohesion (stand. est. = -0.38, p < 0.001). An identical group of correlates were found for lifetime suicidal ideation in Latino participants; the only difference being a nonsignificant association with social support from friends. No significant correlates of lifetime suicide attempts were identified in either Asian or Latino participants. Results in Latino participants also did not contain any significant associations with 12-month report of suicide attempts. Only depression severity (stand. est. = 0.22, p = 0.03) was significantly associated with 12-month report of suicidal ideation in Latino participants. In contrast, social support from family (stand. est. = -0.33, p < 0.001) and friends (stand. est. = 0.37, p < 0.001) were associated with 12-month report of suicide attempts for Asian participants. Depression severity (stand. est. = 0.43, p = 0.001) and social support from both family (stand. est. = 0.27, p < 0.001) and friends (stand. est. = -0.21, p = 0.01) were associated with 12-month report of suicidal ideation for Asian participants. It appears that social support has a greater impact on both recent suicidal ideation and attempts in Asian communities than in Latino communities. Additionally, psychosocial status appears to be most impactful on mental health through the lifetime in both communities.