Latino Suicide and Religion: Examining Differences Across Destinations, Religious Traditions, and Native-Versus Foreign-Born Groups

Abstract

Despite over a century of research examining the macro-level link between religion and suicide, only recently has research examined this important relationship for Latinos within the United States. Such research has grown more essential in light of the growing geographic diversification of Latinos in the United States over the past two decades with increasing settlement beyond traditional Latino communities and into “new destinations.” Therefore, our aim was to answer two key questions: (1) What is the impact of the religious context on Latino suicide across emerging and traditional points of settlement? and (2) Are religious contextual characteristics associated with Latino suicide differently for native- or foreign-born Latinos in each of these types of communities? Our results suggest that (1) religion has no impact on Latino suicide in traditional destinations, (2) only Catholicism negatively impacts foreign-born Latino suicide in new destinations, and (3) native-born Latinos’ suicide is negatively impacted by Catholicism, mainline Protestantism, and evangelical Protestantism. We discuss the implications of these findings.