Citation

Marion MS, Range LM. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2003; 33(1): 44-51.

Affiliation

The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg 39406-5025, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12710539

Abstract

African American women commit suicide less than other U.S. women and men, perhaps partly due to strong, anti-suicide attitudes. To see if suicide attitudes might be softened by extenuating circumstances such as terminal illness, 192 African American and European American women imagined themselves in one of four extenuating circumstances, then completed measures of suicide acceptability and religiosity. Both ethnic groups reported a greater likelihood of suicide when imagining depression, regardless of religiosity. Religiosity, but not extenuating circumstances, corresponded with negative attitudes toward suicide and physician assisted suicide. These African American and European American young women remained steadfastly against suicide, regardless of circumstance.