Walker, Rl., Wingate, LR, Obasi,

Walker, RL., Wingate, LR, Obasi, EM, Joiner, T (2008).An empirical investigation of acculturative stress and ethnic identity as moderators for depression and suicidal ideation in college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology Copyright 2008 by the American Psychological Association 2008, Vol. 14, No. 1, 75 -- 82

This paper explores the relationship that exists between ethnic identity and acculturative stress with depressive symptomology as well as suicide ideation. The scales used are SAFE Acculturative Stress Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Multi-Group Ethnic Identity Measure and Beck Suicide. The work indicated that acculturative stress as well as ethnic identity moderated cases of depression-suicide ideation relationship for the African-Americans but not European-American students.

Literature has indicated that suicide is the leading cause of death among African-Americans aged between 10 and 44 (CDC,2005). It goes further to indicate that every four and half hours, an African-American loses his or her life due to suicide (Crosby & Molock, 2006). Averagely, African-Americans are noted to complete suicide about a decade earlier that persons from other racial or ethnic groups as indicated in the work of Garlow, Purselle, & Heninger (2005).

The paper also indicates that the rate of suicide among the African-American male and youth has seen a significant increase while the completion rates among African-American women has remained relatively low and stable (Griffin-Fennell & Williams, 2006). Due to the high suicide rates among the Whites as compared to the African-Americans as well as the stigmatization of the act of suicide among the African-Americans, case of suicide among the Whites are noted by Anglin, Gabriel, & Kaslow (2005) to dominate the public health as well as research agenda.

Limited number of research has been focused on the risk factors of suicide among the African-Americans. These literature cites the following as the risk factors for suicide completion among the African-Americans; being of male gender and being under 35 years old, substance abuse, firearms at home as well as violence (Barnes, 2006; Willis, Coombs, Drentea, & Cockerham, 2003). The risk factors for suicide attempt are however noted to include; prior attempts, acceptability of suicide, aggression, psychological stress, substance abuse, aggression, hopelessness, familial and marital dysfunction, racial inequality, life stress, income and a myriad of other factors.

In regard to suicide and its effect on families, the paper noted that for each and every suicide case, six to ten survivor or victims are left in bereavement as noted by Jordan and McMenamy, (2004).Suicide survivors are noted to rarely experience any form of natural remittance of their own grief without receiving some form of intervention as noted by Jordan and McMenamy, (2004). Their bereavement is therefore noted to be very lengthy with the symptoms lasting for up to three years or more as indicated in the work of Murphy (2000).

The reliability of the instruments used in the study

Reliability is defined by Joppe (2000) as the extent to which the outcome of a given research are consistent over time. It also refers to how the results are an accurate representation of the phenomenon being studied and how well the given study can be reproduced using a similar methodology (p. 1). This study employed questionnaires as the instrument of study and the reliability of these is relatively low.