Advancing Prevention Research on the Role of Culture in Suicide Prevention: An Introduction

In response to the need to enhance the understanding of the phenomenology of suicidal behavior among U.S. ethnic minority populations, the NIH Office of Rare Diseases, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Indian Health Service, the Adolescent Risk Communication Institute of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, and the Emerging Scholars Interdisciplinary Network (ESIN) co-sponsored a workshop entitled "Pragmatic Considerations of Culture in Preventing Suicide" (NIMH, 2004). The ESIN study group on African American suicide, comprised of young investigators, brought to the meeting their interests in the development of new models of suicidal behavior risk and protection for U.S. populations of color and related implications for research training needs.