LGBT youth have higher risk for suicide attempts.
This is according to “Estimating the Risk of Attempted Suicide Among Sexual Minority Youths: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis”, a study done by Ester di Giacomo, MD; Micheal Krausz, PhD; Fabrizia Colmegna, MD; Flora Aspesi, MD; and Massimo Clerici, PhD and which was published in JAMA Pediatrics.
For this study, the researchers pooled data from 35 earlier studies to show that sexual minority youth were more than three times as likely to attempt suicide as heterosexual peers. Transsexual youth were at highest risk, nearly six times as likely to attempt suicide as heterosexual peers, researchers reported.
“Adolescents facing ‘non-conventional’ sexual identity are at risk of higher self-threatening behaviors, independent of bullying and other risk factors,” Dr.di Giacomo, the study’s lead author, was quoted as saying by Reuters Health. “I think that a difficulty in self-acceptance and social stigmatization might be keys for understanding such elevation in the risk of self-threatening behaviors.”
This may be because many LGBT youth have trouble accepting who they are because of the way they are seen by others, di Giacomo added.
The study noted that “suicide is the second-leading cause of death among adolescents” and that “sexual minority individuals are at a higher risk of suicide and attempted suicide.”
Thirty-five studies reported in 22 articles that involved a total of 2 ,378,987 heterosexual and 113, 468 sexual minority adolescents (age range: 12-20 years) were included in the analysis. The study found that sexual minority youth were 3.5 times as likely to attempt suicide as their heterosexual peers. Meanwhile, transgender adolescents were 5.87 times more likely, gay and lesbian adolescents were 3.71 times more likely and bisexual youth were 3.69 times more likely than heterosexual peers to attempt suicide.
Since the findings suggest that youths with non-heterosexual identity have a significantly higher risk of life-threatening behavior compared with their heterosexual peers, the researchers stressed that “public awareness is important, and a careful evaluation of supportive strategies (e.g. support programs, counseling, and de-stigmatizing efforts)… be part of education and public health planning.”
