African American adolescent suicidal ideation and behavior: The role of racism and prevention

Suicide is one of the most devastating, yet preventable, health disparities for African American adolescents. African American adolescent suicidality has different manifestations and associated risk factors, relative to those for adolescents from other ethnic backgrounds that impact prevention efforts. The Adapted-Coping with Stress Course (A-CWS), an adaptation of Gregory Clarke and colleagues’ Coping with Stress Course, was developed to address the special cultural nuances of African American adolescents. The A-CWS is a 15-session cognitive-behavioral preventive intervention, designed to be implemented in small groups. The A-CWS aims to enhance African American adolescents’ adaptive coping skills, to promote stress reduction and management, incorporating strategies that counter unique stressors associated with systemic racism that burdens African American adolescents. Evaluation results indicated that the adolescents were very favorable and receptive to the A-CWS intervention. The A-CWS intervention serves as a model to advance evidence-based, prevention science, for an underserved sector of adolescents.

*this is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Robinson, W. L., Whipple, C. R., Jason, L. A., & Flack, C. E. (2021). African American adolescent suicidal ideation and behavior: The role of racism and prevention. Journal of Community Psychology, 49, 1282-1295. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22543 Which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22543. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.