Enculturation and acculturation's relationship to suicidal ideation in Hispanic/Latinx individuals with psychotic spectrum disorders

Abstract

Suicide is a leading cause of premature death in people with schizophrenia (Inoue et al., 2020). Hispanic/Latinx (H/L) individuals, the largest ethnic minority group in the U.S., face potential hurdles (e.g., discrimination, language barriers) when trying to receive care for psychotic spectrum disorders, which may increase their risk for suicidal ideation. Drawing from prior literature, we tested the hypotheses that greater acculturation and lower enculturation would be associated with increased suicidal ideation in a sample of 45 H/L individuals with psychotic spectrum disorders using a linear regression analysis controlling for gender and education. As hypothesized, greater acculturation and lower enculturation were associated with greater suicidal ideation. In line with prior research, results of this study suggest that maintaining beliefs and traditions from one's home culture may be beneficial to H/Ls with psychotic spectrum disorders and may reduce suicidal ideation whereas there may be detrimental aspects of mainstream United States culture on one's desire to live. Thus, encouraging H/L patients with psychotic spectrum disorders to maintain a sense of ethnic pride and stay engaged with practices and values from their culture of origin may help reduce suicidal ideation in this vulnerable population.