Associations between Perceived Discrimination and Suicidal Ideation and Behavior in Youth

Objective: Among adults, discrimination is associated with adverse mental health sequelae, including suicidal ideation and behaviors. However, these associations have not been assessed among youth, who may be vulnerable to experiences of discrimination based upon multiple attributes. Method: The current study, therefore, assessed perceived discrimination based on: 1) race/ethnicity/color; 2) nationality; 3) weight; and 4) sexual orientation among a sample of 10-11 year old youths and associations with both suicidal ideation and behaviors, as assessed by a computerized semi-structured interview. Results: Participants were 11,015 youths (Mage: 10.92 ± .64y, 47.8% female, 53.4% White, 14.1% Black, 9.1% multi-racial, 2.1% Asian, and 19.8% Hispanic) participating in the one-year in-person visit of the ABCD Study. Experiences of discrimination were reported by 1.6 ‒ 6.0% of the sample. Suicidal ideation and behavior were reported by 8.1% and 1.5% of participants, respectively. Adjusting for covariates, including the presence of any lifetime depressive disorder, all forms of discrimination were associated with suicidal ideation (ORs: 2.1 ‒ 5.0; ps < .001), and discrimination based on weight (OR: 4.0), race/ethnicity/color (OR: 2.8), and sexual orientation (OR: 7.1) were associated with suicidal behavior (ps < .001). The odds of both suicidal ideation and behavior increased with each additional type of discrimination reported. Conclusions: Findings indicate that beginning in childhood, experiences of reported discrimination may be linked to suicidality. Further, multiple forms of discrimination may have a cumulative impact on youths with intersecting marginalized identities. Reported discrimination and victimization should be routinely assessed among youth in clinical settings.