What Drove Her to Do It? Theories of Depression and Suicide

In Chap. 2, psychosocial theories are presented that provide the most promise for understanding and treating young Latinas. We begin with the theories that focus on depression (cognitive behavioral therapy and acculturative stress models) and then move onto theories that are specific to suicidal behavior, including the interpersonal theory of suicide and Zayas’s ecodevelopmental model. Depression is one of the leading risk indicators for suicide. Over the life course, people with untreated depression have a nearly 20 % risk of suicide; about two-thirds (2/3) of people who commit suicide are believed to be depressed at the time of their deaths. Depression was the most robust predictor of suicidality in a sample of urban Latino and Black adolescents. Any theory that increases our understanding of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among Latina adolescents should take into account depression as a precursor.