Racial Variation in the Association between Suicidal History and Positive and Negative Urgency among American Children.

Shervin Assari

doi:10.22158/jecs.v4n4p39

Abstract

Positive and negative urgency reflect specific facets of impulsivity and correlate with several health-related risk behaviors such as aggression, substance use, and suicide. Less is known about how positive and negative urgency are associated with suicidal behaviors of diverse racial groups. To investigate racial differences in the positive associations between positive and negative urgency and suicide in children in US. This longitudinal study used the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Participants were 10535 American children between ages 9 and 10 years old who were followed for up to one year. The independent variable was suicide history. The primary outcomes were the positive and negative urgency measured by the Urgency, Premeditation (lack of), Perseverance (lack of), Sensation Seeking, Positive Urgency, Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS-SS). Mixed-effects regression models were used for data analysis. In the overall sample, suicidality was associated with positive and negative urgency in children. Race showed a statistically significant interaction with suicidality on children's positive and negative urgency, indicating stronger effects of suicidality on positive and negative urgency for White, compared to Black and Other/Mixed race children respectively. The effects of positive and negative urgency for suicidality of American children depend on race. White American children show the strongest links between positive and negative urgency and risk of suicide, while the effects of positive and negative urgency on children suicide are weaker for Black and Other/Mixed race children.

Highlights

Positive and negative urgency reflects two specific facets of impulsive personality trait (Littlefield, Stevens, Ellingson, King, & Jackson, 2016). Both positive and negative urgency operate as overlapping risk factors for a wide range of health-related risk behaviors, including but not limited to addiction, problematic substance use, aggression, and suicide (Cyders, Zapolski, Combs, Settles, Fillmore, & Smith, 2010; Racine et al, 2013; Halcomb, Argyriou, & Cyders, 2019)
The results of studies on racial variation in the link between suicidality and positive and negative urgency has the potential to inform scientists and practitioners who work with children who are at high risk of suicide (Bardo, Weiss, & Rebec, 2018). 1.1 Aims This study had two aims
Our findings showed that history of serious suicidal ideation is associated with higher positive and negative urgency, the link between negative and positive urgency and suicidality in American adolescents depends on race

Summary

Introduction

Positive and negative urgency reflects two specific facets of impulsive personality trait (Littlefield, Stevens, Ellingson, King, & Jackson, 2016). The results of studies on racial variation in the link between suicidality and positive and negative urgency has the potential to inform scientists and practitioners who work with children who are at high risk of suicide (Bardo, Weiss, & Rebec, 2018). To compare racial groups of American children for the effects of suicidal ideation on positive and negative urgency. Positive and negative urgency reflect specific facets of impulsivity and correlate with several health-related risk behaviors such as aggression, substance use, and suicide. White American children show the strongest links between positive and negative urgency and risk of suicide, while the effects of positive and negative urgency on children suicide are weaker for Black and Other/Mixed race children

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