Background:

Pediatric mental health care has become an increasing priority in the US public health field. In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) declared a national state of emergency in child mental health due to the rising rates of mental health disorders. In 2022, the federal government invested over 2 billion dollars to increase access to mental health care and support the prevention of mental health disorders. In the decade prior to COVID 19 pandemic, mental health conditions among the pediatric population were on the rise. From 2012 to 2019, rates of suicide among young adults and adolescents have been rising each year. While there are differences in the rates of suicide ideation and suicide deaths among racial groups, every group has experienced a significant increase in rates over past decade. 

Objectives:

This projects aims to review recent research on the significant risk factors in suicide ideation and suicide mortality among African Americans teens and young adults in the United States. 

Methods

Articles were reviewed on pubmed by searching with the words black, suicide, and teen. Published dates of the articles were narrowed down to 2019-2024. Inclusion criteria included primary and secondary research articles that evaluated rates of suicide ideation and suicide deaths among African Americans in the US between the ages of 13-21. Articles that were excluded were editorial, review, and meta analysis articles. Other results were excluded if the study took place outside of the US, did not include participants within the age range, or did not include African Americans in their demographics.

Results

Out of 426 articles reviewed, 116 articles met the inclusion criteria. Of the 116 articles included, 98 articles evaluated suicide ideation and attempts without suicide deaths and 18 articles evaluated suicide mortality. Some of the topics discussed among the articles included topics such as the effects of interpersonal relations, adverse childhood events, economic status, and sexual orientation.