As suicide continues to rise among Latino adolescents in the United States, Latino caregivers' inclusion in prevention efforts is scant: Most suicide research is primarily based on and informed by White European-American individuals with few culturally tailored prevention programs. This study aimed to understand what Latino immigrant caregivers believe an effective suicide prevention program would look like for themspecifically, giving voice to Latina immigrant mothers' suicide prevention program recommendations. Toward this aim, we conducted 22 semistructured interviews with Latina immigrant mothers. Structural and inductive coding assisted in identifying the participant's recommendations and expressed preferences. Three essential themes outline the participants' visions of a culturally tailored suicide prevention program for Latino immigrant caregivers and position them as collaborators. These themes were (a) engaging the community via a multistep effort in culturally relevant spaces, (b) providing psychoeducation in culturally meaningful ways, and (c) offering tangible takeaways. Overall, the mother's recommendations provide practitioners and researchers with a sketch for developing a culturally tailored suicide prevention program that places Latino immigrant caregivers as active partners in the fight against adolescent suicide within their communities.
Public Significance StatementThis study takes the first step toward prioritizing Latino caregivers as agents of change and recognizing their role in the fight against adolescent suicide. Findings suggest that Latina immigrant mothers desire to be involved in suicide prevention but experience significant anxiety related to the topic. Thus, clinicians should engage caregivers in a nonthreatening manner through primary prevention efforts focused on adolescent well-being, followed by brief psychoeducational suicide prevention workshops.