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Higher Educational Attainment is Associated with Lower Risk of a Future Suicide Attempt Among Non-Hispanic Whites but not Non-Hispanic Blacks
Authors
Assari, ShervinSchatten, Heather T.
Arias, Sarah A.
Miller, Ivan W.
Camargo, Carlos A.
Boudreaux, Edwin D
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Emergency MedicineDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2019-10-01Keywords
Socioeconomic statusEthnic health disparities
Race
Ethnicity
Blacks
Suicide
Emergency Medicine
Health Services Administration
Health Services Research
Psychiatry
Psychiatry and Psychology
Race and Ethnicity
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
PURPOSE: In a sample of patients presenting to the emergency department (ED), the current study was conducted with two aims: (1) to investigate the protective effects of educational attainment (i.e., completing college) on subsequent risk of suicide attempt/death among patients presenting to the ED and (2) to compare this effect between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White ED patients. METHODS: The current study analyzed data from the Emergency Department Safety Assessment and Follow-Up Evaluation (ED-SAFE) study, a quasi-experimental, eight-center study of universal suicide screening and follow-up of ED patients presenting for suicidal ideation and behavior. Our sample included 937 non-Hispanic White and 211 non-Hispanic Blacks. The dependent variable was suicide attempt/death during the 52-week follow-up. The independent variable was completing college. Age, gender, lesbian/gay/bisexual status, psychiatric history, and previous suicide attempts at baseline were covariates. Race/ethnicity was the focal effect modifier. Logistic regression models were used to test the protective effects of educational attainment on suicide risk in the overall sample and by race/ethnicity. RESULTS: In the overall sample, educational attainment was not associated with suicide risk over the follow-up period. A significant interaction was found between race/ethnicity and educational attainment on suicide risk, suggesting a larger protective effect for non-Hispanic Whites compared with non-Hispanic Blacks. In race/ethnicity-specific models, completing college was associated with decreased future suicide risk for non-Hispanic Whites but not Blacks. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the Minorities' Diminished Return theory, educational attainment better protected non-Hispanic White than non-Hispanic Blacks against future suicide attempt/death. While Whites who have not completed college may be at an increased risk of suicide, risk of suicide seems to be independent of educational attainment for non-Hispanic Blacks.Source
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2019 Oct;6(5):1001-1010. doi: 10.1007/s40615-019-00601-z. Epub 2019 Jul 5. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1007/s40615-019-00601-zPermanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/28496PubMed ID
31278625Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1007/s40615-019-00601-z