From identity-based distress to thinking “I am better off being dead:” Minority stress, posttraumatic cognitions, and suicidal ideation

Background Suicidal ideation (SI) disproportionately impacts individuals with minoritized race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. Minority stress – i.e., traumatic, insidious distress that results from acts of discrimination – may lead to the formation of posttraumatic cognitions that may generalize to suicidal ideation, elevating SI risk in minoritized populations. The current study aimed to test this potential relationship by examining whether minority stress and posttraumatic cognitions accounted for the association between discrimination and SI. Methods Series of structural equation models, including multigroup confirmatory factor analyses conducted to test invariance of latent constructs, were estimated on cross-sectional data collected from minoritized young adults (n = 337). Results Results supported the hypothesized model: experience of discrimination indirectly associated with SI via correlations shared between minority stress and posttraumatic cognitions. Experiences of discrimination lacked a significant correlation with SI while accounting for minority stress and posttraumatic cognition variance. Invariance testing conducted to account for applicability of the model across race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and plurality of minoritized identities all demonstrated that the model was applicable across these identity dimensions. Limitations Granular inspection of identity dimensions was infeasible due to sample size and causal inferences cannot be drawn given cross-sectional nature of the data used. Conclusions Posttraumatic cognitions within the context of discrimination may be effective treatment targets for minoritized individuals who present with minority stress and SI. Future studies should aim to replicate such findings longitudinally to infer temporality.