Black children at double the risk of suicide as white children in US

Black children commit suicide at twice the rate of white children in the US, new research reveals. 

Though it remains exceedingly uncommon in children under 12, rates of suicide among young people have been trending steadily upward in recent years.   

Among children between five and 12, there are vast differences in suicide rates depending upon race.  

Previous research conducted by Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio found that rates of suicide among these young children have remained about the same since the 1990s. 

But the institution’s new work revealed that that stability masked a precipitous decline in suicides by young white children and a surge of the deaths among black children. 

Twice as many black children between ages five and 12 commit suicide in the US as do white children, raising worrisome questions about healthcare access and social media

‘It is concerning that we’ve seen an increase in suicide among black children in the US and if we’re going to develop culturally appropriate interventions, this work informs our next steps,’ said study co-author Dr Jeffrey Bridge. 

The physical and mental health of Americans is rife with disparities, most of which fall along the lines of income and race or ethnic inequalities. 

Suicide is one of the few categories of health concerns and causes of death for which rates are typically lower among minorities than whites. 

This has long held true across all age groups. In 2016, there were 15.17 suicides per 100,000 white people in the US, compared to 13.37 among black Americans. 

Furthermore, once data on older children – those aged between 13 and 17 – is included, suicide rates among black youths are half what they are among white kids and teens.

But a more granular look at data on the youngest children in the nation revealed a very different trend among the youngest Americans to the Nationwide Children’s researchers. 

Between 2001 and 2015, 1,661 children between the ages of five and 12 died by suicide in the US. 

Any number of suicides by such young children sounds alarming, but, Dr Bridge, stressed that really these deaths are exceedingly rare, with a rate of just 0.37 per 100,000 pediatric deaths.

But there were 42 percent more suicides committed by black children during  that time period than there were among white children. 

The sharp rise and dramatic disparity seemed to begin sometime between 2002 and 2006, according to Dr Bridge, but it is not yet clear what might have happened to incite such a change during that time. 

There was ‘an age cut-off there – children younger than 12 wanted to see at what age this disparity changed,’ said Dr Bridge, adding that the trend ‘reverts back to traditional [disparities] after age 12.’  

Dr Bridge and his team found no significant disparities among children of other races, suggesting that something unique may be happening in black communities – but they don’t know what yet. 

They analyzed a large data set from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the information gathered by the agency was limiting. 

‘We don’t even know in our study where these deaths are occurring, so with our follow-up [work] we want to ask if this is happening in isolated pockets of the country, or if there are geographical disparities or differences in rural [versus] urban areas,’ said Dr Bridge.

Suicide rates in the US as a whole are by far highest in the strip non-coastal Western states that includes Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, as well as in Oklahoma and Alaska. 

In addition to determine whether or not black children in this region are at a greater risk of suicide, Dr Bridge and his team will need to look at other ‘potentially social determinants of health,’ he said.

‘A big open question is the role of social media in all of this. I make no comment about its influence, but it’s unexplored and under-studied and we really have to understand the role of social media in risk-taking behaviors, including suicide.’ 

The responsibility for monitoring what children are exposed to and their mental health falls heavily upon parents of all races, but this may be particularly true for non-white families.  

Childhood psychiatrists are in short supply across the country, and few children receive psychological treatment at all. 

But a recent study revealed drastic differences in access to mental health care between white and minority children. 

Nearly six percent of white children saw a mental health care professional at least once between 2006 and 2012, compared to just 2.3 of black and Hispanic children that received the same kind of care. 

Such disparities most likely occur for complex reason: a confluence of lower rates of insurance, social stigma and trust – or lack thereof – in doctors. 

Until the health care system catches up to the needs of the most at-risk children, Dr Bridge says that adults need to simply listen up, and not be afraid to respond to warning signs in their children. 

‘Rates are very low, but any time a child talks about suicide or is maybe displaying warning signs like talking about feeling hopeless or not wanting to live, those statements should be taken seriously,’ he said. 

‘Talking to your child about whether or not they are having suicidal thoughts will not put the thought in their head – that’s been refuted. 

‘So talking about them about this is important to then getting appropriate mental health care if that’s warranted.’       



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