Interpersonal Discrimination as a Potential Source of Individual-Level Anomie and its Consequences for Suicide Ideation

The relationship between interpersonal discrimination and suicidality has received increasing attention. However, research has not considered whether this relationship differs between independent forms of discrimination and how exposure to multiple forms may relate to suicidality among U.S. adults. Drawing from neo-Durkheimian paradigms of anomie, I conceptualize interpersonal discrimination as a potential source of individual-level anomie and then delineate how the attribute behind discrimination could matter to suicidal thoughts. I further consider how experiencing multiple forms of discrimination may amplify the risk of suicidality. To investigate my theoretical propositions, I use 2016-2018 data from U.S. adults ages 33-43 in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to compare the associations between three forms of discrimination-racial/ethnic, biological sex, and body weight-and suicide ideation, and then consider how experiencing multiple forms relates to suicide ideation. Principal findings indicate that weight discrimination has a stronger positive association with suicide ideation than racial/ethnic- or sex discrimination, but individuals who experienced all three forms had an especially high risk of suicide ideation. This study underscores how the attribution behind discrimination matters to the risk of suicidal thoughts and that exposure to multiple forms increases its likelihood.