How do direct and vicarious racism and connectedness in school contexts matter for adolescent suicidality?

Suicide-related fatality has disproportionately risen among racial-ethnic minoritized youth in the past decade and remains at high levels for white youth. With schools as a primary context for adolescent development, this study examines associations of direct and vicarious racial-ethnic-based victimization and school connectedness with past-year active suicidal ideation (SI) and psychological distress during adolescence. Cross-sectional data from the 2017 to 2019 California Health Kids Survey on 400,369 high school students in 1010 schools, matched with administrative data, analyzed via multilevel logistic regression. Adolescents who experienced direct racial-ethnic-based victimization (i.e., racism) in the past year had increased odds of active suicidal ideation and psychological distress, while adolescents with higher individual-level school connectedness had reduced odds of each outcome. Controlling for personal experiences of racism, attending schools with higher proportions of students reporting bullying or harassment on school property based on their race, ethnicity, or national origin at least once in the past year (i.e., vicarious racism) was associated with increased odds of active suicidal ideation (AOR = 2.14, 95% CI: 1.19-3.88) and psychological distress (AOR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.09-2.86). Being in a school with higher mean scores of school connectedness (i.e., vicarious connectedness) was associated with increased odds of active SI and psychological distress, particularly among students with low levels of individual-level school connectedness. This study identifies direct and school-level, vicarious racism and connectedness to the educational system as potential pathways underlying suicidal thoughts and psychological distress among both racial-ethnic minoritized and white youth, which warrant attention.