Higher Risk Sub-Groups of Suicidal Thoughts

Although female youths are significantly more likely to think about and attempt suicide than male youths, male youths are more than four times more likely to complete a suicide attempt3. One theory behind this is that males are taught to suppress their feelings, and suicide is their cry for help11. Harvard psychologist William Pollack argued, “Many boys have an exterior structure that looks healthy and happy, but behind it lies more pain than we can imagine. Often, they either feel too ashamed to talk about it or have no one they can really talk to”12.

With youths of color expressing more feelings of alienation, cultural and societal conflict, academic anxiety, and feelings of victimization, they are a high-risk group for suicide as well¹³.

In the general population, Caucasian and Native Americans have the highest suicide rates¹³. Native American males have the highest suicide rate among youth of color¹⁴; though young Native American females have suicide rates more than two times that of females in the general population¹³. The high suicide rates for this population have been attributed to factors including the stress of acculturation, cultural conflict, loss of ethnic identity, and a lack of cultural and spiritual identity¹⁵. In the most recent National Youth Behavior Survey (which did not have enough data on Native Americans to report population statistics for them) data showed that the prevalence of having attempted suicide was higher among Hispanic (10.6%) than Caucasian (6.9%) and African-American (8.4%) students; higher among Hispanic female (15.0%) than Caucasian female (10.3%) and African-American female (9.0%) students; and higher among African-American male (7.7%) and Hispanic male (6.1%) than Caucasian male (3.7%) students¹⁶.

Sexual minority youth —lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-gender (LGBT)—are often considered to be at high risk for suicidal behavior because they are the targets of a great deal of victimization. 41.7% of LGBT youth report not feeling safe in their schools. More than two-thirds report experiencing some form of verbal, physical, or sexual harassment or violence¹⁷. LGBT youth also suffer from high rates of depression¹⁸—a risk factor for youth suicide—perhaps due to factors such as the abuse they receive, the confusion they feel about their sexuality, or the difficulty in “coming out” to family and friends. Nevertheless, despite a widespread perception that LGBT youth are at higher risk for suicide than their peers, scientific data does not uphold this perception¹⁹.

Youth in the Juvenile Justice System - Another group to consider is youth in the juvenile justice system. Of the more than 11,000 incarcerated youths , over half suffer from diagnosable, yet untreated mental illnesses²⁰. Within this group, more than 17,000 incidents of suicidal behavior are recorded in juvenile facilities each year²¹.

This is not a complete listing but rather a general overview of at-risk groups.