3 - (SYM 9) Targeting Suicide-related Stigma Among Hispanic/latinx Parents

Suicide-related stigma (SRS) involve beliefs that persons who experience suicidality are characterized by negative traits. SRS is pronounced among Latinx individuals living in the United States, particularly those who have lower levels of acculturation. In the context of Latinx families, these beliefs have downstream implications to youth distress and help-seeking and to parent responsiveness. Given that parents are primary socialization agents for youth and are positioned to disrupt community norms consistent with SRS, there is a need to develop psychoeducational approaches targeting SRS which can be integrated into tailored safety planning and universal prevention. To address this need, the current project aimed to delineate SRS among Latinx caregivers and involve them in generating culturally relevant psychoeducation targeting SRS. A sample of 121 Spanish-speaking Latinx parents was recruited via the online Prolific platform. Participants completed the Stigma of Suicide Scale and sociodemographic items. Then, parents were provided psychoeducation related to suicide and, in an unstructured qualitative prompt, were asked to generate content that counters others’ beliefs consistent with SRS in their own words. Descriptive, correlational, and thematic analyses were conducted. Three SRS beliefs most often endorsed included cowardice, immorality, and irresponsibility (7-17% affirmative responses). In bivariate analyses, SRS was associated with sex such that male participants reported higher levels of SRS than their female counterparts. Thematic analysis revealed eleven types of content or strategies to counter anti-stigma generated by parents. Themes of content included perspective taking, references to one’s racial or ethnic group, familismo, religiosity, kindness and empathy, and help and support. Strategies used included direct refutation or counter-framing, normalization of psychological distress, and raising doubt about beliefs and judgments related to SRS. Word frequency analysis was consistent with the identified themes. This study provides a foundation for developmental intervention and prevention work among Latinx parents focused on SRS and downstream outcomes. Study findings suggest that male Latinx parents are a subgroup who may particularly benefit from approaches targeting SRS. The tailoring of psychoeducation related to SRS for Latinx parents will be discussed in the context of recommendations from national suicide prevention organizations.