Bouris, A., Everett, B. G., Heath, R. D., Elsaesser, C. E., & Neilands, T. B. (2016). Effects of victimization and violence on suicidal ideation and behaviors among sexual minority and heterosexual adolescents. LGBT Health, 3(2), 153-161.
The study was carried out to fill the gap in research concerned with the lack of attention to determining which victimization types were the closest related to suicide, which was especially important in the context of prevention intervention development. Seven distinct victimization were indicated, such as sexual identity-related harassment, bullying, skipping school due to concerns of safety, being injured or threatened with a weapon, sexual victimization, violence on the part of intimate partners, and electronic bullying. It was found that the youth of sexual minorities reported more frequent suicidal ideation, suicide plan development, or having at least one attempt at ending their life. Also, a more significant percentage of the same population showed to experience sexual orientation or gender identity-associated harassment, skipping school, sexual abuse, and cyberbullying. It is notable that sexual orientation itself did not contribute to increased suicide ideation after coming out. Rather, it was the experiences with harassment and being threatened or assaulted with a weapon that led to thoughts of suicide and subsequent attempts.
Diamond, G. M., Shilo G., Jurgensen E., D’Augelli, A., Samarova, V., & White, K. (2011). How depressed and suicidal sexual minority adolescents understand the causes of their distress. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 15(2), 130-151.
The study aimed to determine how LGB adolescents who report suicidal and clinically significant depressive symptoms understand the reasons for their psychological distress. Significantly, as a means to understand the causes of the distress, adolescent-parent relationship quality was explored as either risk or protective factor. The results showed that after coming out to their families, LGB adolescents experienced rejection, victimization, and additional non-LGB-related events, all of which contributed to more significant psychological distress. The majority of the respondents admitted that they wished that more acceptance and closeness characterized their relationships with family members.
Liu, R. T., & Mustanski, B. (2012). Suicidal ideation and self-harm in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. American Journal of Preventive Care, 42(3), 221-228.
The research offered a longitudinal evaluation as to the relative effects of both general and LGBT-associated risk factors and protective factors to thoughts about suicide and efforts of self-harm among the target population group. The questionnaires administered among the community sample aimed to measure gender non-conformity, sensation-seeking, and impulsivity as contributors to suicide attempts. More frequent suicidal ideation was identified to be caused by the history of suicide activities, impulsivity, inadequate social support, and future LGBT victimization. Notably, male respondents were more prone to suicide attempts while females committed self-harm more often.
Mueller, A. S., James, W., Abrutyn, S., & Levin, M. L. (2015). Suicide ideation and bullying among US adolescents: Examining the intersections of sexual orientation, gender, and race/ethnicity. American Journal of Public Health, 105(5), 980-985.
The study’s objective was to evaluate the connections between race, gender, and sexual orientation and the likelihood of adolescents being bullied, which results in suicide ideation. It was found that “white and Hispanic gay and bisexual males, Hispanic bisexual females, and white lesbian and bisexual females were more likely to be bullied” after coming out than their white heterosexual counterparts (Mueller et al., 2015, p. 980). Notably, the vulnerability of Black LGB youth to being bullying objects was not that different from white heterosexual youths. Even though there were differences in the risks of being bullied, sexual minorities of any race had higher chances of experiencing suicide-related ideation and suicide attempts compared to their heterosexual counterparts.
Mustanski, B., & Liu, R. T. (2013). Longitudinal study of predictors of suicide attempts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42(4), 437-448.
The study explored the overall and LGBT-specific risk and safeguarding indicators for attempts of suicide in a racially diverse population of LGBT young people. Among all variables examined in the research, poor family support, hopelessness, the onset age of same-sex attraction, the symptoms of conduct disorders, victimization, impulsivity, and depression were shown to relate to the previous attempts at suicide among the LGBT youth. Importantly, suicide attempt history was the most significant indicator of future suicidal behavior, with individuals who previously attempted suicide having more than ten times more likely to make another attempt within the following year. Such results highlight the importance of effective suicide prevention interventions aimed at LGBT youth as well as additional management efforts to improve the population’s mental health outcomes.
Paul, J. P., Catania, J., Pollack, L., Moskowitz, J., Canchola, J., Mills, T., Binson, D., & Stall, R. (2002). Suicide attempts among gay and bisexual men: Lifetime prevalence and antecedents. American Journal of Public Health, 92(8), 1338-1345.
The study explored the lifetime prevalence attempts at suicide and psychological implications within a population of gay and bi men who have sex with other men (MSM). The study found that 21% of the respondents developed a suicide plan at some point, 12% had attempted suicide, 50% of whom were multiple attempters (Paul et al., 2002). The majority of the men involved in the study made their first attempt at suicide before the age of 25, indicating the lack of acceptance of them as gay or bisexual by their immediate environments. Overall, the research is essential for showing that MSM had an increased risk of attempts of suicide, with the higher likelihood being clustered earlier in their lives.
Silenzio, V. M., Pena, J. B., Duberstein, P. R., Cerel, J., & Knox, K. L. (2007). Sexual orientation and risk factors for suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among adolescents and young adults. American Journal of Public Health, 97(11), 2017-2019.
The study was one of the first to explore the relative differences in risk indicators for suicidal thoughts and attempts between LGB adolescents and their peers of heterosexual orientation. Sexual orientation was found to facilitate significant interaction effects with risk indicators for both ideation of suicide and subsequent attempts. The main finding was that the LGB youth had higher adjusted rates of suicidal thoughts and subsequent attempts compared to their non-LGB counterparts. Even though non-LGB youth still showed suicidal behaviors, LGB respondents had higher chances of considering ending their lives due to additional idiosyncratic variables that included victimization due to sexual orientation or limited parental support.
Waidzunas, T. (2012). Young, gay, and suicidal: Dynamic nominalism and the process of defining a social problem with statistics. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 37(2), 199-225.
The article emphasized the problem associated with the rising dynamics of suicidal behaviors among gay teens. The author underlined the fact that the majority of statistics were drawn from social work-related publications rather than scientific research. Using the “dynamic nominalist” perspective developed by Hacking, the article utilizes the interviews with the author and other competent figures to trace the origins and the effects of gay teen suicide statistics. The outcome was the identification of a correlation between gay identity and potential “antigay redeployment of decontextualized numbers” (Waidzunas, 2012, p. 199).
Wang, C. C., Hsiao, R. C., & Yen, C. F. (2019). Victimization of traditional and cyber bullying during childhood and their correlates among adult gay and bisexual men in Taiwan: A retrospective study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(23), 4634.
The research explored the correlation between the timing of the milestones associated with sexual orientation development and family-related indicators with the victimization of gay and bisexual men. The main areas that were evaluated in the study included the early identification of sexual orientation, early coming out, parental levels of education, and the perceived family support with victimization. Traditional bullying victimization was linked to early sexual orientation identification, limited family support, and early coming out. The mentioned factors must be taken into account when it comes to the creation of interventions for establishing a positive community climate and reducing sexuality-associate bullying.
Whitaker, K., Shapiro, V. B., & Shields, J. (2016). School-based protective factors related to suicide for lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Care, 58(1), 63-68.
The study’s purpose was to determine whether school-based efforts, such as increased connectedness or school safety, would help decrease suicidal considerations among LGB adolescents. The objectives of the research were correlated to the past findings showing that LGB youth was three times more likely to consider suicide and attempt it compared to their counterparts of the majority sexual orientation. However, limited information was previously available regarding the effectiveness of school-based protective efforts among the target population, which could lower the effects of the risk factors. It was found that greater efforts of school connectedness led to reduced considerations about suicide among LGB adolescents.
References
Bouris, A., Everett, B. G., Heath, R. D., Elsaesser, C. E., & Neilands, T. B. (2016). Effects of victimization and violence on suicidal ideation and behaviors among sexual minority and heterosexual adolescents. LGBT Health, 3(2), 153-161.
Diamond, G. M., Shilo G., Jurgensen E., D’Augelli, A., Samarova, V., & White, K. (2011). How depressed and suicidal sexual minority adolescents understand the causes of their distress. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 15(2), 130-151.
Liu, R. T., & Mustanski, B. (2012). Suicidal ideation and self-harm in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. American Journal of Preventive Care, 42(3), 221-228.
Mueller, A. S., James, W., Abrutyn, S., & Levin, M. L. (2015). Suicide ideation and bullying among US adolescents: Examining the intersections of sexual orientation, gender, and race/ethnicity. American Journal of Public Health, 105(5), 980-985.
Mustanski, B., & Liu, R. T. (2013). Longitudinal study of predictors of suicide attempts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42(4), 437-448.
Paul, J. P., Catania, J., Pollack, L., Moskowitz, J., Canchola, J., Mills, T., Binson, D., & Stall, R. (2002). Suicide attempts among gay and bisexual men: Lifetime prevalence and antecedents. American Journal of Public Health, 92(8), 1338-1345.
Silenzio, V. M., Pena, J. B., Duberstein, P. R., Cerel, J., & Knox, K. L. (2007). Sexual orientation and risk factors for suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among adolescents and young adults. American Journal of Public Health, 97(11), 2017-2019.
Waidzunas, T. (2012). Young, gay, and suicidal: Dynamic nominalism and the process of defining a social problem with statistics. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 37(2), 199-225.
Wang, C. C., Hsiao, R. C., & Yen, C. F. (2019). Victimization of traditional and cyber bullying during childhood and their correlates among adult gay and bisexual men in Taiwan: A retrospective study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(23), 4634.
Whitaker, K., Shapiro, V. B., & Shields, J. (2016). School-based protective factors related to suicide for lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Care, 58(1), 63-68.