Factors Influencing Suicide Behaviours in Immigrant and Ethno-Cultural Minority Groups: A Systematic Review

Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health

Volumn 19, Issue 3, 2017, Pages 755-768

  Lai, Daniel W L ^a,b   Li, Lun ^b   Daoust, Gabrielle D ^c  

^a HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY   (Hong Kong)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY   (Canada)

^c UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Ethno cultural; Immigrant; Minority; Suicide

Indexed keywords

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY; CULTURAL FACTOR; ETHNIC GROUP; ETHNOLOGY; FAMILY RELATION; HEALTH STATUS; HUMAN; MENTAL HEALTH; MENTAL STRESS; MIGRANT; MINORITY GROUP; PSYCHOLOGY; SOCIAL STIGMA; SOCIOECONOMICS; SUICIDAL IDEATION; SUICIDE ATTEMPT;

ACCULTURATION; CULTURE; EMIGRANTS AND IMMIGRANTS; ETHNIC GROUPS; FAMILY RELATIONS; HEALTH STATUS; HUMANS; MENTAL HEALTH; MINORITY GROUPS; SOCIAL STIGMA; SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS; STRESS, PSYCHOLOGICAL; SUICIDAL IDEATION; SUICIDE, ATTEMPTED;

EID: 84988360849     PISSN: 15571912     EISSN: 15571920     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-016-0490-3     Document Type: Review

References (91)

1. World Health Organization (WHO). Suicide prevention (SUPRE); 2011. http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suicideprevent/en/.
2. Statistics Canada. Suicide rates: an overview; 2012. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-624-x/2012001/article/11696-eng.htm.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National center for injury prevention and control. Web-based injury statistics query and reporting system (WISQARS); 2010. www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html.
4. Statistics Canada. Immigration and ethno-cultural diversity in Canada; 2014. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-010-x/99-010-x2011001-eng.cfm.
5. United States Census Bureau. The foreign-born population in the United States: 2010; 2012. http://www.census.gov/population/foreign/.
6. United Nations. Report of the department of economic and social affairs population division: international migration; 2009. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/2009Migration_Chart/ittmig_wallchart09.pdf.
7. Earner I. Immigrant families and public child welfare: barriers to services and approaches for change. Child Welf. 2007;86(4):63–91.
8. Zhou M. Growing up American: the challenge confronting immigrant children and children of immigrants. Annu Rev Sociol. 1997;23:63–95.
9. John DA, de Castro AB, Martin DP, et al. Does an immigrant health paradox exist among Asian Americans? associations of nativity and occupational class with self-rated health and mental disorders. Soc Sci Med. 2012;75(12):2085–98.
10. Oh Y, Koeske GF, Sales E. Acculturation, stress, and depressive symptoms among Korean immigrants in the United States. J Soc Psychol. 2002;142(4):511–26.
11. Shin HS, Han HR, Kim MT. Predictors of psychological well-being amongst Korean immigrants to the United States: a structured interview survey. Int J Nurs Stud. 2007;44(3):415–26.
12. Ayers JW, Hofstetter CR, Usita P, et al. Sorting out the competing effects of acculturation, immigrant stress, and social support on depression: a report on Korean women in California. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2009;197(10):742–7.
13. Choi J, Miller A, Wilbur J. Acculturation and depressive symptoms in Korean immigrant women. J Immigr Minor Health. 2009;11(1):13–9.
14. Fenta H, Hyman I, Noh S. Determinants of depression among Ethiopian immigrants and refugees in Toronto. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2004;192(5):363–72.
15. Zhang W, Ta VM. Social connections, immigration-related factors, and self-rated physical and mental health among Asian Americans. Soc Sci Med. 2009;68(12):2104–12.
16. Beautrais AL. Risk factors for suicide and attempted suicide among young people. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2000;34(3):420–36.
17. Brown GK, Beck AT, Steer RA, et al. Risk factors for suicide in psychiatric outpatients: a 20-year prospective study. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2000;68(3):371–7.
18. Cheng AT, Chen TH, Chen CC, et al. Psychosocial and psychiatric risk factors for suicide: case-control psychological autopsy study. Br J Psychiatry. 2000;177(4):360–5.
19. Conwell Y, Duberstein PR, Caine ED. Risk factors for suicide in later life. Biol Psychiatry. 2002;52(3):193–204.
20. Fergusson DM, Woodward LJ, Horwood LJ. Risk factors and life processes associated with the onset of suicidal behaviour during adolescence and early adulthood. Psychol Med. 2000;30(01):23–39.
21. Statistics Canada. National household survey: data tables. Catalogue no. 99-010-X2011032; 2011. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/dt-td/Lp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=0&PID=0&PRID=0&PTYPE=105277&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2013&THEME=95&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=.
22. Banting K, Soroka S. Minority nationalism and immigrant integration in Canada. Nations Natl. 2012;18(1):156–76.
23. Aubert P, Daigle MS, Daigle J. Cultural traits and immigration: hostility and suicidality in Chinese Canadian students. Transcult Psychiatry. 2004;41(4):514–32.
24. Gomez J, Miranda R, Polanco L. Acculturative stress, perceived discrimination, and vulnerability to suicide attempts among emerging adults. J Youth Adolesc. 2011;40(11):1465–76.
25. Hirsch JK, Chang EC, Jeglic EL. Social problem solving and suicidal behavior: ethnic differences in the moderating effects of loneliness and life stress. Arch Suicide Res. 2012;16(4):303–15.
26. O’Donnell S, Meyer IH, Schwartz S. Increased risk of suicide attempts among Black and Latino lesbians. Am J Public Health. 2011;101(6):1055–9.
27. Malenfant EC. Suicide in Canada’s immigrant population. Health Rep. 2004;15(2):9–17.
28. Hansson EK, Tuck A, Lurie S. Rates of mental illness and suicidality in immigrant, refugee, ethnocultural, and racialized groups in Canada: a review of the literature. Can J Psychiatry. 2012;57(2):111–21.
29. Trovato F. Migration and survival: the mortality experience of immigrants in Canada. Research report submitted to the Prairie Centre for Research on Immigration and Integration. Edmonton: University of Alberta; 2003.
30. Eggertson L. Canada lacks national suicide prevention strategy. Lancet. 2015;385(9987):2562–3.
31. Olson R. Suicide prevention and cultural sensitivity. Centre for Suicide Prevention InfoExchange 7; 2012. https://suicideinfo.ca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=DVmkaQX4ScU%3D&tabid=592.
32. Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. The CASP blueprint for a Canadian national suicide prevention strategy. Winnipeg: Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention; 2009.
33. Canadian Mental Health Association. Preventing suicide; 2014. https://www.cmha.ca/mental-health/mental-health-brochures/?offset=10.
34. Health Canada. Suicide prevention; 2009. http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/diseases-maladies/suicide-eng.php.
35. Abe-Kim J, Takeuchi DT, Hong S, et al. Use of mental health-related services among immigrant and US-born Asian Americans: results from the National Latino and Asian American Study. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(1):91–8.
36. Leong FT, Lau AS. Barriers to providing effective mental health services to Asian Americans. Ment Health Serv Res. 2001;3(4):201–14.
37. Bridges AJ, Andrews AR, Deen TL. Mental health needs and service utilization by Hispanic immigrants residing in mid-southern United States. J Transcult Nurs. 2012;23(4):359–68.
38. Fortuna LR, Porche MV, Alegria M. Political violence, psychosocial trauma, and the context of mental health services use among immigrant Latinos in the United States. Ethn Health. 2008;13(5):435–63.
39. Huang SL, Spurgeon A. The mental health of Chinese immigrants in Birmingham, UK. Ethn Health. 2006;11(4):365–87.
40. Shin JK. Help-seeking behaviors by Korean immigrants for depression. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2002;23(5):461–76.
41. Guiao I, Thompson AE. Ethnicity and problem behaviors among adolescent females in the United States. Health Care Women Int. 2004;25:296–310.
42. Outlaw AY, Phillips G, Hightow-Weidman LB, et al. Age of MSM sexual debut and risk factors: results from a multisite study of racial/ethnic minority YMSM living with HIV. AIDS Patient Care STDS. 2011;25(1):S23–9.
43. Zayas L, Gulbas LE, Fedoravicius N, et al. Patterns of distress, precipitating events, and reflections on suicide attempts by young Latinas. Soc Sci Med. 2010;70(11):1773–9.
44. Garlow SJ, Purselle DC, Heninger M. Cocaine and alcohol use preceding suicide in African American and White adolescents. J Psychiatr Res. 2007;41:530–6.
45. Supple AJ, Graves K, Kiang L, et al. Ethnic, gender, and age differences in adolescent nonfatal suicidal behaviors. Death Stud. 2013;37:830–47.
46. Wong SS, Sugimoto-Matsuda JJ, Chang JY, et al. Ethnic differences in risk factors for suicide among American high school students, 2009: the vulnerability of multiracial and Pacific Islander adolescents. Arch Suicide Res. 2012;16:159–73.
47. Winterrowd E, Canetto SS, Chavez EL. Friendship factors and suicidality: common and unique patterns in Mexican American and European American youth. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2011;41(1):50–65.
48. Bhugra D. Suicide and gender: cultural factors. Harv Health Policy Rev. 2006;7(2):166–80.
49. Langhinrichsen-Rohling J, Friend J, Powell A. Adolescent suicide, gender, and culture: a rate and risk factor analysis. Aggress Violent Behav. 2009;14:402–14.
50. Lipsicas CB, Mäkinen IH, Apter A, et al. Attempted suicide among immigrants in European countries: an international perspective. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2012;47:241–51.
51. Mirsky J, Kohn R, Dolberg P, et al. Suicidal behavior among immigrants. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2011;46:1133–41.
52. Han CS, Oliffe JL, Ogrodniczuk JS. Suicide among East Asians in North America: a scoping review. J Ment Health. 2013;22:361–71.
53. Cho YB, Haslam N. Suicidal ideation and distress among immigrant adolescents: the role of acculturation, life stress, and social support. J Youth Adolesc. 2010;39(4):370–9.
54. Else IRN, Goebert DA, Bell CK, et al. The relationship between violence and youth suicide indicators among Asian American and Pacific Islander youth. Aggress Violent Behav. 2009;14(6):470–7.
55. Greenfield B, Rousseau C, Slatkoff J, et al. Profile of a metropolitan North American immigrant suicidal adolescent population. Can J Psychiatry. 2006;51(3):155–9.
56. Kennedy MA, Parhar KK, Samra J, et al. Suicide ideation in different generations of immigrants. Can J Psychiatry. 2005;50(6):353–6.
57. Winterrowd E, Canetto SS, Chavez EL. Friendships and suicidality among Mexican American adolescent girls and boys. Death Stud. 2010;34(7):641–60.
58. Borges G, Angst J, Nock MK, et al. A risk index for 12-month suicide attempts in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Psychol Med. 2006;36(12):1747–57.
59. Kang HJ, Stewart R, Jeong BO, et al. Suicidal ideation in elderly Korean population: a two-year longitudinal study. Int Psychogeriatr. 2014;26(1):59–67.
60. Wilkinson P, Kelvin R, Roberts C, et al. Clinical and psychosocial predictors of suicide attempts and nonsuicidal self-injury in the Adolescent Depression Antidepressants and Psychotherapy Trial (ADAPT). Am J Psychiatry. 2011;168(5):495–501.
61. Miranda R, Scott M, Hicks R, et al. Suicide attempt characteristics, diagnoses, and future attempts: comparing multiple attempters to single attempters and ideators. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2008;47(1):32–40.
62. Statistics Canada. Definitions, data sources and methods: variables: Ethno-cultural minority of person; 2012. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/concepts/definitions/minority-minorite1-eng.htm.
63. De Maio FG, Kemp E. The deterioration of health status among immigrants to Canada. Global Public Health. 2010;5(5):462–78.
64. Premji S, Duguay P, Messing K, Lippel K. Are immigrants, ethnic and linguistic minorities over-represented in jobs with a high level of compensated risk? results from a Montréal, Canada study using census and workers’ compensation data. Am J Ind Med. 2010;53(9):875–85.
65. Samuel J, Basavarajappa K. The ethno-cultural minority population in Canada: a review of numbers, growth and labour force issues. Can Stud Popul. 2006;33(2):241–69.
66. Teixeira C, Lo L, Truelove M. Immigrant entrepreneurship, institutional discrimination, and implications for public policy: a case study in Toronto. Environ Plan C Gov Policy. 2007;25(2):176–93.
67. Borum V. African American women’s perceptions of depression and suicide risk and protection. J Women Soc Work. 2012;27(3):316–27.
68. Walker RL, Obasi EM, Wingate LR, et al. An empirical investigation of acculturative stress and ethnic identity as moderators for depression and suicidal ideation in college students. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2008;14(1):75–82.
69. Kaslow NJ, Price AW, Wyckoff S, et al. Person factors associated with suicidal behavior among African American women and men. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2004;10(1):5–22.
70. Street JC, Taha F, Jones AD, et al. Racial identity and reasons for living in African American female suicide attempters. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2012;18(4):416–23.
71. van Leeuwen N, Rodgers R, Regner I, et al. The role of acculturation in suicidal ideation among second-generation immigrant adolescents in France. Transcult Psychiatry. 2010;47(5):812–32.
72. Walker RL, Lester D, Joe S. Lay theories of suicide: an examination of culturally relevant suicide beliefs and attributions among African Americans and European Americans. J Black Psychol. 2006;32(3):320–34.
73. Oquendo MA, Dragatsi D, Harkavy-Friedman J, et al. Protective factors against suicidal behavior in Latinos. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2005;193(7):438–43.
74. Castle K, Conner K, Kaukeinen K, et al. Perceived racism, discrimination, and acculturation in suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among Black young adults. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2011;41(3):342–51.
75. Chung I. Sociocultural study of immigrant suicide-attempters: an ecological perspective. J Soc Work. 2012;12(6):614–29.
76. van Bergen DD, van Balkom AJLM, Smit JH, et al. ‘I felt so hurt and lonely’: suicidal behavior in South Asian, Surinamese, Turkish, and Moroccan women in the Netherlands. Transcult Psychiatry. 2012;49(1):69–86.
77. Kamya HA, White E. Expanding cross-cultural understanding of suicide among immigrants: the case of the Somali. Fam Soc. 2011;92(4):419–25.
78. Palmer D. An exploration into the impact of the resettlement experience, traditional health beliefs and customs on mental ill-health and suicide rates in the Ethiopian community in London. Int J Migr Health Soc Care. 2007;3(1):44–55.
79. Baldwin S, Griffiths P. Do specialist community public health nurses assess risk factors for depression, suicide, and self-harm among South Asian mothers living in London? Public Health Nurs. 2009;26(3):277–89.
80. Anglin DM, Gabriel KOS, Kaslow NJ. Suicide acceptability and religious well-being: a comparative analysis in African American suicide attempters and non-attempters. J Psychol Theol. 2005;33(2):140–50.
81. Noh E. Asian American women and suicide: problems of responsibility and healing. Women Ther. 2007;30(3/4):87–107.
82. Donnelly TT, Hwang JJ, Este D, et al. If I was going to kill myself, I wouldn’t be calling you. I am asking for help: challenges influencing immigrant and refugee women’s mental health. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2011;32(5):279–90.
83. Baumann AA, Kuhlberg JA, Zayas LH. Familism, mother–daughter mutuality, and suicide attempts of adolescent Latinas. J Fam Psychol. 2010;24(5):616–24.
84. Kuhlberg JA, Pena JB, Zayas LH. Familism, parent–adolescent conflict, self-esteem, internalizing behaviors and suicide attempts among adolescent Latinas. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2010;41(4):425–40.
85. Ahmed A, Stewart DE, Teng L, Wahoush O, Gagnon AJ. Experiences of immigrant new mothers with symptoms of depression. Arch Women Ment Health. 2008;11(4):295–303.
86. Wong ST, Yoo GJ, Stewart AL. An empirical evaluation of social support and psychological well-being in older Chinese and Korean immigrants. Ethn Health. 2007;12(1):43–67.
87. Sadavoy J, Meier R, Ong AYM. Barriers to access to mental health services for ethnic seniors: the Toronto study. Can J Psychiatry. 2004;49(3):192–9.
88. Arnette NC, Mascaro N, Santana MC, et al. Enhancing spiritual well-being among suicidal African American female survivors of intimate partner violence. J Clin Psychol. 2007;63(10):909–24.
89. Hirsch JK, Visser PL, Chang EC, et al. Race and ethnic differences in hope and hopelessness as moderators of the association between depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior. J Am Coll Health. 2012;60(2):115–25.
90. Iliceto P, Pompili M, Candilera G, et al. Suicide risk and psychotherapy in immigrants: a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2013;48(7):1105–14.
91. Ron P. Depression, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation among the elderly: a comparison between veterans and new immigrants. Illn Crisis Loss. 2007;15(1):25–38.