Intersecting harms: A structural perspective on firearm suicide among black and Latino youth in the United States

Glob Ment Health (Camb). 2026 Apr 27;13:e95. doi: 10.1017/gmh.2026.10208. eCollection 2026.

ABSTRACT

Firearm suicide among adolescents in the United States has increased in recent years, with Black and Latino youth experiencing disproportionately rising rates. Although firearm violence and mental health disparities have received growing attention, the structural conditions that shape racial inequities in firearm suicide risk remain insufficiently examined. This overview applies an intersectional and structural lens to analyze how systemic inequities including residential segregation, concentrated disadvantage, punitive school discipline practices, underinvestment in mental health infrastructure and commercial determinants of firearm availability contribute to differential suicide risk. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature and recent epidemiologic data, the manuscript maps the causal pathways through which structural racism and institutional inequities shape exposure to community violence, access to culturally responsive care, crisis response practices and household firearm environments. It further examines how these mechanisms interact with gender and lethal means availability to amplify disparities in suicide mortality. The analysis underscores the importance of multilevel, upstream interventions that address structural inequities, strengthen community-based supports and reduce access to lethal means. By reframing firearm suicide as a structurally patterned outcome rather than an individual-level phenomenon, this work advances a socio-ecological understanding of adolescent suicide prevention with implications for structural reform and suicide prevention policy.

PMID:42164244 | PMC:PMC13184656 | DOI:10.1017/gmh.2026.10208