Suicide Among Diverse Youth by Andres J Pumariega & Neha Sharma

Author:Andres J Pumariega & Neha Sharma
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Peer Relationship and School Relationship

Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health that included 959 Asian American adolescents, Wong and Maffini [24] identified subgroups of Asian American youth who demonstrated differences in risk and protective factors for suicide attempts. Guided by Joiner’s [25] interpersonal-psychological theory that proposes a sense of belongingness to a valued social group as a salient protective factor against suicidality, three subgroups of participants were identified in explaining the association between family, peer, and school relationships and subsequent suicide attempts. The study found that most participants belonged to the subgroup in which family, peer , and school relationships were protective factors; however, stronger peer and school relationships were suggested to be potential risk factors in a small percentage of participants who were less acculturated. This finding suggested that less acculturated Asian American adolescents may have felt culturally marginalized when they spent a lot of time with their close friends [26], possibly due to being less acculturated than their friends yet still more acculturated than their parents. Alternatively, less acculturated groups may have experienced cognitive dissonance because of the different cultural messages they have received from their peers and families [27]. Hence, the awareness of cultural differences was perhaps reinforced when this subgroup of adolescents spent more time with their peers, which then increased their experiences of acculturative stress and vulnerability to suicidality. Lorenzo et al. [28] also found that Asian youth reported more problems with peers including peer rejection and teasing as well as more depressive and withdrawn behaviors compared to their Caucasian peers.

In John’s case, his close connection with a select few classmate friends in middle school probably provided him with a sense of belongingness . John started feeling lonelier only when he lost his friendships. Subsequently, John felt too shy to make new friends when transitioning to high school because of his underlying social anxiety. His fear of being humiliated and socially rejected by peers was paralyzing for him. Trying to regain some social connection, John sought out support from fellow Internet gamers—his “Clash of Clan” peers—which were his primary stress reliever. John’s perceived peer rejection that resulted in his social isolation may have perpetuated his social anxiety in making meaningful friendships and consequently exacerbating his depression.

The connectedness and sense of belonging that one feels about his/her school includes feeling close to people at one’s school, being part of one’s school, and happiness being at one’s school. It is hard to imagine that John felt connected to his high school. In addition, the author’s experiences in working with East Asian youth of immigrant families suggest that parental involvement with school can sometimes be limited to minimal, which further weakens any potential connectedness of this group of youth with his/her school.

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