The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides statistics on suicide rates from 2000 to 2006. See also the CDC's report on the leading causes of death in 2005.

The following is a summary of selected research findings on Asian American suicidology. Most of the references for these findings can be found in the Bibliography section of this website.

Suicide and Suicide Ideation Rates

• In 2004, suicide was the 8th most common cause of death among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans compared to the 11th most common cause of death in the overall U.S. population (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2007).

• In 2006, among women aged 15-24 years, the suicide rate for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (4.25 per 100,000) exceeded the national suicide rate as well as the suicide rates for all major racial/ethnic groups except Native Americans (CDC WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports).

• In 2006, among women aged 65 and above from the major U.S. racial and ethnic groups, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans had the highest suicide rate (7.1 per 100,000; CDC WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports).

• Among primary care patients, older Asian American adults have been found to have the highest rates of death and suicide ideation (56.8%) as compared with African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic older adults (Bartels et al., 2002).

• Several studies have shown that Asian American college students reported higher levels of suicidal ideation compared with White American college students (Brener, Hassan, & Barrios, 1999; Chang, 1998; Kisch, Leino, & Silverman, 2005; Muehlenkamp, Gutierrez, Osman, & Barrios, 2005).

Risk and Protective Factors

• A study of death records indicated that among Asian Americans aged 65 and above, the death of a family member and feeling rejected or perceiving oneself to be a burden on family members were the two most commonly known correlates of suicide (Blinn, 1997).

• Family conflict was found to be strongly related to an increased likelihood of suicidal behavior among Asian American adolescents; in addition, family conflict was a greater suicidal behavior risk among less acculturated adolescents as compared with highly acculturated adolescents (Lau, Jernewall, Zane, & Myers, 2002).

• Asian American college students who strongly endorsed moral objections to suicide and survival and coping beliefs as their reasons for not committing suicide reported lower levels of suicidal behavior (Choi, 2007).

• Asian American college students who reported that they seriously considered committing suicide in the past year listed family problems, academic problems, and financial problems as the top three most common events preceding the developing of their suicide ideation (Wong, Brownson, & Schwing, 2009).