A Strengths-Based Approach to Suicide Prevention Among High-Risk Black Youth - PROJECT SUMMARY Black sexual minority youth (BSMY) demonstrate higher rates of suicidal ideation and behavior than White sexual minority youth and Black heterosexual youth. However, limited research has examined racial and sexual minority social positions as they co-occur to result in experiences producing suicide risk and protection among BSMY. Further, suicide research often lacks between group comparisons needed to understand suicide risk and protection across subgroups of BSMY, limited research has examined BSMY-specific protective factors as moderators of suicide risk, and most research has relied on single method inquiries that limit understanding of the constellation of factors associated with suicide risk among BSMY over time and across a week. We propose to conduct a multi-level, multi-component mixed-methods, longitudinal study to examine how minority stress and BSMY-specific protective factors affect active suicide ideation over time, day-to-day, and within specific contexts within and between populations of BSMY. We will pursue the following specific aims: (1) To examine the moderating effects of BSMY-specific individual and community protective factors on theoretical pathways of risk over time; (2) To identify and describe proximal correlates of suicide risk, including protective factors, among BSMY; and (3) To explore in-depth the effects of contextual factors on suicide risk among BSMY. We will recruit 625 BSMY aged 13 to 26 in the U.S. via social media marketing and impose sampling quotas based on sexual identity/orientation (lesbian, gay, bisexual females, bisexual males) and age (13-17 years, 18-21 years, 22-26 years). All participants will complete an online survey every 3 months over 18 months. For Aim 1, we will perform stratified latent trajectory moderated mediation analyses for lesbian females, gay males, bisexual females, and bisexual males, separately, to examine associations between minority stress across time as a predictor of change in entrapment and psychopathology, which in turn predicts changes in the trajectory of active suicide ideation across time. We hypothesize that individual protective factors will moderate the trajectory of minority stress across time, while community protective factors will moderate trajectories of psychological vulnerabilities. For Aim 2, a subsample of 450 participants will complete one of three daily diary surveys over the study period to examine cross-level interactions between person-level protective factors and day-level risk factors predicting suicide ideation across subgroups at the daily level. Aim 3 involves conducting individual interviews with a subset of 180 participants across subgroups to glean insights into contextual factors associated with increasing/decreasing suicide risk. This research will help address social and mental health disparities among BSMY by identifying modifiable BSMY-specific protective factors that will inform future tailored, strengths-based interventions.
