Suicidal Ideation in a Sample of Incarcerated Men

This article examined the factors associated with thoughts of ending life in a sample of incarcerated men. Data were obtained from the Cancer Risk in Incarcerated Men Study, a pilot study designed to examine cancer health disparities and cancer health education in a racially/ethnically diverse sample of male smokers in three state prisons in the northeast region of the United States from 2015 to 2017. Of the 225 participants, only 11 reported having thoughts of ending life. The median age of the participants was 38 years. Thoughts of ending life had a significant association with race/ethnicity. Latinos and Whites were 8 out of the 11 participants who had thoughts of ending life. The majority of participants who had thoughts of ending life reported a history of solitary confinement. Almost half of all participants reported that they sometimes or often felt a risk of attack or abuse from prison officers. Findings demonstrate the need to investigate further the association of mental health symptomology with incarcerated individuals' perceived experience with suicidal thoughts and behavior.