2007/03/30 by Carmela Alcántara, Joseph P. Gone · 2 citations
Medicine · Psychology · #Mental Health Treatment and Access #Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes #Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/07481180701244587
openalex publication_date 2007/03/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The alarming prevalence of suicidal behaviors in Native American communities remains a major concern in the 21st-century United States. Recent reviews have demonstrated that prevention programs and intervention efforts using transactional-ecological models have effectively reduced suicidal behaviors in the American Indian and Alaska Native populations sampled. As a result, this article adopts a transactional-ecological framework for conceptualizing suicidality and identifying points of intervention. Drawing on the most current empirical reports, the epidemiology of Native American suicidal behaviors is reviewed, while situating risk and protective factors within a biopsychosocial framework. Opportunities for intervention are discussed with a focus on the interactions between individuals and their environments, and the antecedent conditions leading to zones of heightened suicide risk.