(PS9-B43) Gendered Racial Microaggression and Suicidality in Black Women: Hope as a Moderator

Death by suicide is on the rise at an alarming rate for Black girls and women in the U.S. (Curtin & Hedegaard, 2019; Curtin et al., 2016). According to the CDC (2020), suicide is the 3^rd leading cause of death for Black girls and women ages 15-24 and the 7^th leading cause of death for Black women ages 25-34. In spite of the rise in suicide risk among this population, there is limited research on the risk and protective factors for suicidality in Black women leaving the population to remain underrepresented in the literature. The current study sought to contribute to the existing literature by understanding the influence of gendered racial microaggressions as a risk factor for suicide and investigate probable protective factors (i.e., hope) that may mitigate the impact of gendered racial microaggression on suicide ideation in Black women. Previous research highlights that the concept of hope is especially significant to Black communities as this population has depended on the power of hope to advocate for change and prevail over systems of power and privilege that disadvantage Black communities (Davidson et al., 2009; Hollingsworth et al., 2016). The current study hypothesized that a higher frequency of gendered racial microaggressions will be associated with increased suicide ideation. It was also hypothesized that endorsement of high levels of hope will be associated with decreased suicide ideation. Further, it was hypothesized that hope will moderate the relationship between gendered racial microaggressions and suicide ideation.
Participants had to identify as African American or Black to participate in the study. Participants comprised of 270 cisgender women who identified as African American/Black with a mean age of 34 years (SD = 9.80). 94.8% of the sample identified as Black, while 5.2% identified as Biracial. Participants were recruited online through SONA and various social media platforms. The relationship between the study variables was examined using a bivariate correlation analysis. In addition, a moderation analysis was conducted using Model 1 of the PROCESS Macro v4.1 (Hayes, 2022) to test interactions between Gendered-Racial Microaggression and Suicidality and if the interactions would be impacted by hope in the sample. An alpha value of 0.05 was assumed as a statistical significance threshold. In the current study, the absence of zero within the 95% confidence interval is indicative of significant effects. The results from the study showed that gendered racial microaggressions were positively correlated with suicide ideation. Conversely, hope was negatively correlated to suicide ideation and had no relationship with gendered racial microaggressions. Additionally, hope moderated the relationship between gendered racial microaggressions and suicide ideation but within some of the subscales of the gendered racial microaggression scale.
The current study adds to the literature of suicide by examining suicide risk from the perspective of Black women’s unique experiences. Despite this study’s relevant contributions, there are limitations that can be addressed in future studies. Future research should continue to explore risk and protective factors that aid in understanding Black women’s complex experiences with suicide.