Abstract for: Multi-finality in violence and suicide due to risk and protection among emerging adults in communities of color

Suicide and violence are two leading causes of premature death among 15-24 year olds in the U.S., with communities of color consistently disproportionately affected or on the rise. Many risk and protective factors can lead to either suicide or violence, but how these interact to produce dynamic behavior in both mortality burdens remains unknown. This paper addresses the gap through a systematic review of literature on effects associated with risk and protective factors, and the translation of findings as causal loop diagrams (CLDs). Bivariate and multivariable relationships were recorded on a matrix (all selected factors listed on both the x- and y- axis) and represented as CLDs to synthesize relationships as feedback structures producing dynamic behavior in suicide and violence burdens of morbidity and mortality (over 3,500 studies screened; 135 studies included in the analysis). Feedback loops are generated from studies drawing from Black samples around factors such as exposure to violence, witnessing violence, depression, reasons for living, anxiety, and disruptive behavior disorders. How factors result in multi-finality, due to interdependencies between risk and protective factors, is summarized and represents complexity in how rates of suicide and violence may dynamically behave, simultaneously, in communities of color.