Citation

Romanelli M, Xiao Y, Lindsey MA. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, New York, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/sltb.12634

PMID

32190929

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Adolescents' sexual behaviors can be incongruent with those assumed to align with their sexual identity. Identity-behavior profiles permit the characterization of youth who might remain undetected using a single-dimensional assessment of sexual orientation. This study examined suicide risks among four distinct sexual identity-behavior profiles of youth: heterosexual with other-sex partners only, heterosexual with any same-sex partners, lesbian or gay (LG) with same-sex partners only, and LG with any other-sex partners.

METHOD: Data were analyzed from the 2017 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Participants' reported sex, sexual identity, and the sex of their sexual contacts were used to construct the identity-behavior profiles. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between identity-behavior profiles and suicide outcomes.

RESULTS: Compared to heterosexual respondents with other-sex partners only, heterosexual respondents with any same-sex partners and LG respondents with same-sex partners only had greater odds of having a suicide plan; LG respondents with any other-sex partners were over seven times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and attempt suicide and 14 times more likely to have a suicide plan.

CONCLUSIONS: Health and mental health providers can expand the identification of youth at risk for suicide by assessing both sexual identity and behavior.

© 2020 The American Association of Suicidology.

Language: en