Religion and Suicidal Behavior Among Black Americans

描述（由申请人提供）：关于降低黑人自杀或自杀未遂风险的保护因素知之甚少。特别是，宗教与黑人自杀风险降低之间的联系从未在全国代表性样本中得到证明，特别是考虑到种族群体差异的样本。黑人自杀研究的死亡主要是由于没有足够数量的美国黑人数据来得出有意义的结论。这项拟议中的研究旨在全面研究宗教参与和灵性是否与严重自杀行为风险的降低相关（例如，自杀未遂，自杀计划）在全国代表性样本的5,191名非洲裔美国人和加勒比黑人。公共卫生意义在于明确与较低自杀风险相关的宗教因素，这将为随后的自杀预防干预措施和策略提供信息。本研究的目的是通过以下四个方面来推动宗教和精神信仰对非裔美国人自杀行为影响的研究：（1）利用美国生活全国调查（NSAL）这一大型的、具有全国代表性的数据集的优势;（2）确定宗教和精神是否与黑人自杀企图和严重自杀计划的风险降低有关;（3）调查来自教会成员和家庭成员的非正式社会支持对降低黑人自杀企图和严重自杀计划风险的相对影响。以及是否以及通过何种机制提供非正式社会支持（例如，教会和家庭的社会支持）可能缓和或调解的途径，宗教信仰，以黑人自杀行为。所使用的数据分析方法包括回归、逻辑回归、多名义逻辑回归、考克斯比例风险模型和结构方程模型。 公共卫生相关性：医学研究所的报告（2002年），“减少自杀：一个国家的当务之急”，强调了解黑人自杀行为的保护因素，如宗教，作为一个紧急的公共卫生研究的优先事项。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Remarkably little is known about protective factors that reduce Blacks' risk for suicide or attempted suicide. In particular, the link between religion and suicide risk reduction in blacks has never been demonstrated with a nationally representative sample, particularly one that also takes into account ethnic groups' differences. The death in suicide research among blacks is due primarily to not having data set with large enough numbers of black Americans from which to draw meaningful conclusions. The proposed research aims to provide a comprehensive examination of whether religious participation and spirituality are correlated with reductions in the risk for serious suicidal behavior (e.g., attempted suicide, suicide planning) in a nationally representative sample of 5,191 African Americans and Black Caribbeans. The public health significance lies in specifying religious factors related to lower suicide risk, which will inform subsequent suicide prevention interventions and strategies. The present study is designed to make four important contributions to the advancement of research on religion and spirituality's effects on suicidal behavior among African Americans, namely by: (1) capitalizing on the strengths of a large, nationally representative data set, the National Survey of American Life [NSAL]; (2) determining whether religiosity and spirituality are associated with reductions in the risk for suicide attempts and serious suicide planning by Blacks; and (3) investigating the relative effects of informal social support from both church members and family members on reductions in the risk for suicide attempts and serious suicide planning by Blacks. And whether and through what mechanisms informal social support (e.g., church and family social support) may moderate or mediate the pathways of religiosity to black suicidal behavior. The data analytic approaches to be used include regression, logistic regression, multi-nominal logistic regression, Cox proportional hazard model, and structural equation modeling. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Institute of Medicine report (2002), "Reducing Suicide: A National Imperative," highlighted understanding the protective factors for suicidal behavior among Blacks, such as religion, as an emergent public health research priority.