A new study led by Leslie Adams, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, has examined how the intersection of racial identity and gender norms shapes suicide risk among Black men.
Through qualitative interviews with a focus group of Black adult men who had a history of suicidal ideation or behavior, Dr. Adams and her co-authors asked participants about their mental health, social support, and experiences with racial discrimination. Although Dr. Adams and her research team did not ask direct questions about gender norms, the topic came up organically during the interviews; participants reported struggles with navigating a racialized ideal of masculinity that emphasized toughness, emotional suppression, and self-reliance.
“While hegemonic masculinity emphasizes emotional stoicism and self-reliance, racialized masculinity intensifies these demands by portraying Black men as inherently resilient and unbreakable,” the authors write. “As a result, many participants expressed stigma around help-seeking, viewing emotional vulnerability as incompatible with being a strong Black man. This reluctance, when combined with limited access to culturally responsive mental health care, led to increased suicide risk factors related to feelings of burdensomeness and isolation.”
Based on their findings, the authors emphasize that future efforts aimed at reducing suicide risk among Black men must account for the intersection of racism and patriarchal gender norms.
The authors continue, “These structural forces shape not only how Black men experience emotional distress, but also how they interpret and respond to it in moments of crisis. Central to this work is the creation of spaces that affirm vulnerability, which include environments where Black men can safely express emotional pain without fear of judgment, stigma, or further marginalization. Culturally grounded, gender-responsive approaches are essential to dismantling the silence around mental health and fostering pathways to healing and connection.”
Dr. Adams earned her bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and her master of public health degree from Dartmouth University in Hanover, New Hampshire. She holds a Ph.D. in health behavior from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, she was an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard’s Center for Population and Development Studies.
In addition to Dr. Adams, the research team included scholars from Johns Hopkins University and Washington University in St. Louis.
