Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Suicide Attempt Risk in New York City Female Youth
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Objectives
We investigated disparities in suicide attempt risk among Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and White female youth in New York City (NYC) compared to National trends in the United States (US).
Methods
This study used data from the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) from 1997-2023. We analyzed self-reported racial/ethnic category, biological sex, and suicide attempt status. Suicide attempt risk and risk ratios were determined using logistic regression.
Survey Population
Our sample included 83,347 female youth Nationally (age in years M = 15.98, SD = 1.22) and 29,802 in NYC (age in years M = 15.56, SD = 1.24), with 9,480 (National) and 3,864 (NYC) of these females having attempted suicide at least once.
Results
Both samples showed the highest increases in suicide attempt risk among Black/African American female youth. While National and NYC samples showed significant racial disparities, these disparities were higher in NYC, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusions
This study showed pervasive racial disparities in suicide attempt risk for female youth and is one of the first to directly analyze local-level risk in female youth from a majority Black/African American and Hispanic/Latina sample.
