Suicide Involving Intimate Partner Problems Among Immigrants in the United States

Individuals facing intimate partner problems (IPP) often experience mental health issues, including suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Immigration status may increase risk due to the stress of acculturation and barriers to health care affecting immigrants. This study aims to identify patterns of risk factors among immigrants who died by suicide while experiencing IPP and explore variations in patterns by sociodemographic characteristics and suicide contexts. Data includes 17 waves of the NVDRS from 2003 to 2019, which includes 3,177 immigrants facing IPP. Latent class analysis identified distinct groups based on their mental health status, substance use, and treatment history preceding suicide. Variations by demographic and suicidal contexts across groups were subsequently analyzed. Three-class solutions emerged: the group with reports of mental health problems (MH; 26.6%), the group with alcohol problems and substance use (AS; 6.5%), and the group that had neither (minor problems, MIN; 66.9%). The MH group comprised more females, Asians, and individuals with a college education, while the AS group had more males, Hispanics, and individuals with a high school education or less. The MH group tended to use poisoning as a suicide method more, whereas the MIN group used firearms more. The MH group also exhibited the highest prevalence of suicide attempts. In addition, the MH and AS groups had a history of suicidal thoughts and disclosed their suicidal ideation more than the MIN group. These findings underscore the distinct risk factors experienced by immigrants with IPP, associated with their demographic and suicidal event characteristics precipitating their suicidality, suggesting opportunities for targeted prevention efforts to mitigate such suicides.