Beyond belonging: Racial homelessness as a culturally specific risk factor for suicidal ideation in multiracial young adults.

Authors

Nolan T Krueger, Miguel A Arana

Published in

Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology. Oct 05, 2026. Epub Oct 05, 2026.

Abstract

Multiracial young adults experience disproportionately high rates of suicidal ideation, yet the culturally specific risk factors contributing to this elevated risk remain understudied. The present study examined whether racial homelessness-the experience of not belonging to any racial community-uniquely predicts suicidal ideation severity above and beyond established correlates from the interpersonal theory of suicide.
A community sample of 190 multiracial young adults (ages 18-25) recruited through Qualtrics panels completed online measures of racial homelessness, racial identity invalidation, distressing family discrimination, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, depressive symptoms, hopelessness, suicidal ideation, and subjective social status. Simultaneous and hierarchical multiple regressions tested the unique contribution of racial homelessness to suicidal ideation severity.
In simultaneous regression, racial homelessness emerged as a significant unique predictor of suicidal ideation (β = .199, p = .019), alongside depressive symptoms and perceived burdensomeness. Racial identity invalidation and distressing family discrimination did not contribute uniquely. In hierarchical regression, racial homelessness accounted for significant incremental variance (ΔR² = .020, p = .019) above and beyond the other multiracial-specific stressors.
Racial homelessness operated as a culturally specific risk factor for suicidal ideation in multiracial young adults, distinct from the global belongingness and burdensomeness mechanisms theorized by the interpersonal theory of suicide. Findings indicate that culturally specific constructs may be needed to fully account for suicide risk in populations whose racial experiences fall outside dominant categorization systems, with implications for clinical assessment and theoretical extension. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

PMID:
42831831
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 05 Oct 2026.

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