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Objective: Suicide rates among African American adolescents have increased exponentially in recent years. The socioecological stressors that can increase suicide risk for African American adolescents, in conjunction with unique suicide risk manifestations within this group, require culturally sensitive preventive interventions. This study examines the efficacy of the Adapted-Coping With Stress course (A-CWS), a culturally tailored preventive intervention, to reduce suicidal ideation in African American adolescents, utilizing a randomized controlled design. Method: Participants included 410 ninth-grade students in a large Midwestern city; most students identified as Black/African American. Participants were randomly assigned to either the A-CWS intervention or standard care control condition. All participants were assessed at baseline, immediately postintervention, and 6 and 12 months postintervention. Results: Treatment effects were examined using latent growth models comparing suicidal ideation trajectories in control and intervention conditions. Analyses were conducted using both intention-to-treat and treatment-as-received samples (i.e., intervention condition participants who attended at least 80% of sessions). In both intention-to-treat and treatment-as-received analyses, there was a significant treatment effect: Individuals in the A-CWS intervention condition with higher baseline ideation evidenced a superior reduction in suicidal ideation over the course of the study, relative to their counterparts in the standard care control condition. Conclusion: Findings indicate that the A-CWS preventive intervention is efficacious in reducing suicidal ideation among African American adolescents with higher levels of baseline suicidal ideation and that effects sustain over time, with the strongest effect evidenced 12 months postintervention. What is the public health significance of this article?: This study indicates that the Adapted-Coping With Stress course, a culturally tailored suicide prevention program for African American adolescents, is associated with reductions in suicidal ideation among African American adolescents with higher levels of pretreatment ideation. Effects were most pronounced 12 months after participating in the intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicide is one of the most devastating, yet preventable, health disparities for African American adolescents. African American adolescent suicidal ideation and behavior may have different manifestations and risk factors relative to those of adolescents from other ethnic backgrounds that impact prevention efforts. For example, in addition to more common manifestations of suicidal ideation and behavior, African American youth may engage in violent or high‐risk behaviors, use more lethal means, or report ideation at lower depression levels. The Adapted‐Coping with Stress Course (A‐CWS), an adaptation of Gregory Clarke and colleagues' Coping with Stress Course, was developed to address the cultural nuances of African American adolescents. The A‐CWS is a 15‐session cognitive‐behavioral, group‐based preventive intervention that aims to enhance adaptive coping skills and reduce suicidal ideation, by incorporating strategies that counter stressors associated with systemic racism that burden African American adolescents. This study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of the A‐CWS intervention, using a sample of predominantly African American ninth‐grade students. Results indicated that the adolescents were very favorable and receptive to the A‐CWS intervention and that the intervention could be conducted feasibly. The A‐CWS intervention serves as a model to advance culturally‐grounded, evidence‐based preventive intervention, for an underserved sector of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]