TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Methods of attempted suicide and risk factors in LGBTQ+ youth JO - Child abuse and neglect A1 - Wang, Yuanyuan A1 - Feng, Yi A1 - Han, Meng A1 - Duan, Zhizhou A1 - Wilson, Amanda A1 - Fish, Julie A1 - Sun, Shufang A1 - Chen, Runsen SP - e105352 EP - e105352 VL - 122 IS - N2 - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to identify patterns of attempted suicide methods and risk factors in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other gender/sexual minority (LGBTQ+) youth by comparing them to non-LGBTQ+ youth.

METHODS: A total of 9281 Chinese college students completed the study, 8313 participants were included in the analysis of which 1032 were LGBTQ+ youth and 7281 were non-LGBTQ+ youth. Sociodemographic information was collected along with several scales and self-report items. This included anxiety scores using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)-7, depression scores using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9, mania score using the Altman Self-Rating Mania (ASRM), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) victimization using the World Health Organization's definition. Self-report items were used to further collect history of non-fatal self-injurious behaviors, parents' related risk factors, history of suicide attempts, and methods of attempted suicide.

RESULTS: The prevalence of attempted suicide in LGBTQ+ youth was 4.2%, which in comparison was more than four times higher than non-LGBTQ+ youth. LGBTQ+ youth 19-22 years old were at a significantly higher risk of attempting suicide than non-LGBTQ+ youth. The most common method of attempted suicide was cutting of the wrist, followed by jumping from a high height. There were some common suicide risk factors that were similar between LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ youth, such as living in a rural area, having a history of a psychiatric disorder, and having a history of non-fatal self-injurious behaviors. The associated increased risk factors for LGBTQ+ youth were having a higher score for CTQ-emotional abuse and CTQ-sexual abuse. LIMITATION: The causality of risk factors to attempted suicide cannot be assumed due to the cross-sectional nature of the survey. Also, due to the relatively small sample size within the subgroups, we did not assess LGBTQ+ youth separately according to the different sexuality groups.

CONCLUSION: LGBTQ+ youth showed a higher prevalence of attempted suicide when compared to their heterosexual peers. Emotional and sexual abuse showed higher rates among LGBTQ+ youth, the cumulative effects of childhood trauma might explain the difficulties in developing healthy coping styles.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0145-2134 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105352 ID - ref1 ER -