A comparison of suicide predictors between African Americans and Caucasians

In the United States and across the world the rates of suicide have dramatically increased. African American suicide, in particular, has increased over the last decade. There are various theories on suicide which are aimed at understanding what factors predict suicide. However, research pertaining to African American suicide is very limited.;The purpose of this study was to determine if African-American suicides have a different set of demographic and suicidal behavior characteristics relative to the traditionally researched Caucasian population. The data for the 1336 participants in this study were archival data from the National Center for Health Statistics mortality data. The data were collected from the period of January 1, 1998 to December 31, 1998. The suicidal predictors between African American subjects and Caucasian subjects available in this dataset were age, education and marital status.;This study found that African Americans and Caucasians were similar in several of their methods of suicide; firearms, jumping, cutting and suffocation. African Americans were more likely to commit suicide by drowning than Caucasians. There were predictors of suicide age, education and population size that were statistically significant in differentiating African-American suicides from Caucasian suicides.;The results of this study identified a need for further research that will have more variables such as religion, socioeconomic status, employment, and mental health history to help in determining the predictors for African American suicide that will ultimately help save lives.