The risk for suicide is a major health concern for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, and studies have repeatedly found higher rates of suicidal behaviors among LGBT youth than their heterosexual peers. Recent studies have also found that compared to prior cohorts, contemporary LGBT youth are increasingly aware of, identifying and disclosing their sexual and gender identities earlier in their developmental trajectories. These factors have been related to suicidal risk factors such as bullying, harassment, marginalization, and victimization by family members and peers. As society has not been able to change the negative experiences that lead to suicidal behaviors among some LGBT youth, we need to provide public and mental health workers with evidenced-based research so that they can identify and enhance protective factors while simultaneously reducing malleable risk factors for suicidal behaviors when working with LGBT youth.
This five-year longitudinal panel study was designed to follow a diverse sample of over 1,000 LGBT youth, ages 15-24, from three metropolitan areas across the United States. Researchers used multiple assessments over a three-year period to examine risk and protective factors for suicidal behaviors with a particular emphasis on the major components of the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide: thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and the capacity for self-lethal injury. Simultaneously, researchers documented whether or not the risk and protective factors for suicide are uniquely related to LGBT youths’ developmental milestones.
The knowledge generated from this project will allow researchers and health professionals to more accurately assess LGBT youth at risk for suicidal behaviors, identify those risk factors that are malleable to change at various developmental milestones, and create preventive messaging and intervention models that simultaneously increase protective factors and reduce risk factors.
This project was investigated by Stephen Russell and Arnold H. Grossman, Professor of Applied Psychology at New York University. To learn more about how this data is used today in our lab, browse the SOGI-Q tag.