Suici Attempts Among Gay and Bisexual Men: Lifetime Prevalence and Antecents - PMC

Contents:

• REARCHERS FD DISPARI SUICI RISK AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS
• NEARLY A THIRD OF YOUNG GAY PEOPLE HAVE ATTEMPTED SUICI, STUDY FDS
• SUICI ATTEMPTS AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN: LIFETIME PREVALENCE AND ANTECENTS
• PEOPLE WHO ARE GAY, LBIAN OR BI HAVE MORE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE E PROBLEMS, SURVEY FDS
• STUDY HIGHLIGHTS DIFFERENC BETWEEN GAY, STRAIGHT SUICIS
• REARCHERS FD DISPARI SUICI RISK AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS
• GAY, BISEXUAL MEN HAVE LOWER SUICI RISK MORE TOLERANT UNTRI

REARCHERS FD DISPARI SUICI RISK AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS

Suici is the send leadg e of ath among young people aged 10 to 24 (Hegaard, Curt, & Warner, 2018) — and lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and qutng (LGBTQ) youth are at signifintly creased youth are more than four tim as likely to attempt suici than their peers (Johns et al., 2019; Johns et al., 2020) Trevor Project timat that more than 1.

NEARLY A THIRD OF YOUNG GAY PEOPLE HAVE ATTEMPTED SUICI, STUDY FDS

Suici risk among lbian, gay, and bisexual adults vari nsirably pendg on the tersectn between sexual inty and other aspects of inty, such as genr, age, and race/ethnicy, acrdg to a study led by rearchers at the Natnal Instute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the Natnal Instut of Health. The study, which examed data om a natnally reprentative survey of adults the Uned Stat, also showed that lbian, gay, and bisexual adults are overall more likely to report suici-related thoughts, plans, and attempts wh the past 12 months pared wh heterosexual adults. The fdgs, published the Amerin Journal of Preventive Medice, dite that the tersectn of multiple social inti may pound suici risk for some lbian, gay, and bisexual dividuals.

“This study monstrat the importance of askg about sexual inty natnal data llectn efforts, and highlights the prsg need for suici preventn servic that addrs the specific experienc and needs of lbian, gay, and bisexual adults of different genrs, ag, and race and ethnic groups, ” said Rajeev Ramchand, Ph. Prev rearch has shown that, when examed as a group, adults who intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual have higher rat of suicidal thoughts and attempts relative to heterosexual adults.

As part of the survey, participants reported their sexual inty (heterosexual, lbian or gay, bisexual, or don’t know), and whether they had had suicidal thoughts, suici plans, or suici attempts at any time the past 12 months. In le wh prev rearch, the NSDUH data showed that rat of all three suici-related behavrs—thoughts, plans, and attempts—were generally higher among lbian, gay, and bisexual adults than among heterosexual adults.

SUICI ATTEMPTS AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN: LIFETIME PREVALENCE AND ANTECENTS

After takg mographic factors to acunt, the rearchers found that suici risk was three to six tim greater for lbian, gay, and bisexual adults than for heterosexual adults across every age group and race/ethnicy tegory. When the rearchers looked at the specific tersectn between mory sexual inty and race/ethnicy, they found that whe and Black women who intified as bisexual were more likely to report suicidal thoughts relative to whe and Black women who intified as lbian or gay. Lookg at the tersectn between mory sexual inty and age, the rearchers found that suicidal thoughts were also relatively higher among bisexual women the 35-64 group pared wh lbian or gay women the same age group.

72 MB] has shown that around 40% of gay men experienced sexual vlence (other than rape) their lifetime and around 47% of bisexual men experienced sexual vlence (other than rape) their lifetime. Acrdg to data om the Youth Risk Behavr Survey (YRBS) nducted durg 2001-2009 seven stat and six large urban school districts, 14% to 31% of gay and lbian stunts across the s and 17% of 32% of bisexual stunts across the s had been forced to have sexual terurse at some pot their liv. Homophobia — wh fai, schools, muni and even doctors and unsellors offic — is a key e, acrdg to the Still Here project wh the Men’s Health Rearch Program at the Universy of Brish Columbia.

PEOPLE WHO ARE GAY, LBIAN OR BI HAVE MORE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE E PROBLEMS, SURVEY FDS

As a postdoctoral rearch fellow nursg at the Universy of Brish Columbia, I work on the Still Here project to engage gay and bisexual men who have prevly stggled wh suici (or who have lost another gay or bisexual man to suici) to tell their stori through photographs. Many Still Here participants also scribed how they were nonted wh homophobia and stigmatizg attus when they opened up to talk about their feelgs to their doctor or unsellor. Cril to remember is that the more openly people talk about suici and homosexual suici and the ls stigma people feel around the issu, the more people n succsfully fight back agast LGBTQIA+ suici.

Suici rat among young people have been on the rise recent years, acrdg to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventn, but gay and bisexual youths are almost five tim as likely to have attempted suici as their straight, spe advanc the fight for LGBTQ equaly, a new report fds that young gay people today are even more likely to have attempted suici than prev generatns. Rearchers at the Williams Instute, a sexual orientatn and genr inty thk tank at UCLA School of Law, found that 30 percent of lbian, gay and bisexual rponnts ag 18 to 25 reported at least one suici attempt, pared to 24 percent of those 34-41 and 21 percent of those study, published last month the journal PLOS One, also revealed that the young adults are experiencg higher levels of victimizatn, psychologil distrs and ternalized homophobia than olr generatns. ""But one of the first narrativ I listened to was om an 18-year-old Lato om San Francis, and his narrative was the same as we've heard for generatns — homophobia, excln, shame.

Although primarily based on opportunistic sampl, prr rearch suggts that gay men, lbians, and bisexual persons have higher rat of suicidal iatn, suici attempts, and pleted suicis than do heterosexual dividuals.

STUDY HIGHLIGHTS DIFFERENC BETWEEN GAY, STRAIGHT SUICIS

Lifetime prevalence rat of ser suicidal iatn rangg om 24% to 41% have been reported, along wh lifetime prevalence rat of suici attempts rangg om 7% to 20% among adult gay men and lbians. 4–12 The available evince13 suggts that the relative risk for ser suici attempts among gay and bisexual mal is substantially greater than that among their heterosexual unterparts, but basic epimlogil rearch on suicidal behavr this populatn is both sparse quanty and ficient qualy, plagued by methodologil fics, particularly wh rpect to samplg. Rsell and Joyner, 16 g data om the Natnal Longudal Study of Adolcent Health, found higher rat of reported suicidal thoughts and attempts among adolcents reportg same-sex romantic attractns and romantic relatnships than among adolcents not reportg such relatnships, wh this operatnalizatn of sexual orientatn havg a signifint effect above and beyond other adolcent suici risk factors (such as prsn, hopelsns, and prr victimizatn) studi examg termants of suicidaly specific to gay and bisexual men have foced on both velopmental life transns (e.

G., loss of iends, antigay victimizatn) n be seen as havg both a proximal and a distal relatn to suicidaly, siar to the immediate and long-term nsequenc of other trmatic events. 7, 17–19Younger gay men, bisexual dividuals, and lbians appear more likely to both anticipate and experience stigmatizatn and victimizatn, which are lked to greater psychologil distrs. 19–26 Societal strs of beg gay are not, however, buffered by support om ual sourc (such as fay), bee many young adults have not disclosed their sexual orientatn to fay members or have enuntered negative reactns to such disclosure.

G., experienc of antigay victimizatn, the sense of viance and stigmatizatn prompted by an awarens of one’s nonheterosexual orientatn) and the pcy of psychologil rourc (characteristic of relative youth) are associated wh greater vulnerabily to suicidal behavr. Are velopmental experienc relevant to sexual inty formatn (early experienc of antigay harassment, and beg earlier stag of the procs of “g out” or of disclosg one’s sexual orientatn) more likely to be associated wh earlier vs later suici attempts? METHODSSampleThe data reported here were rived om the Urban Men’s Health Study, a hoehold probabily-based sample of MSM (operatnalized as eher havg had sex wh a male sce age 14 or self-intifyg as gay or bisexual) 4 US ci (Chigo, Ill; Los Angel, Calif; New York, NY; and San Francis, Calif).

REARCHERS FD DISPARI SUICI RISK AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS

Current generatns of gay and lbian youths are g out at earlier ag, 42 wh mean age at first disclosure by mal beg 16 years, 43–45 pared wh 23 to 28 years earlier studi.

42 Early studi found that the mean time between first same-sex sexual relatns and first self-disclosure as gay (or bisexual) among mal was approximately 10 years, but more recent timat have been closer to 4 years. 54 Therefore, analys, rponnts were placed one of the tegori, based on the difference between age at first sexual experience and age at first suici attempt (more than 5 years prr, 0–5 years prr, and after the attempt or never) the anticipatn that those whose suici attempt was wh 5 years of their first same-sex sexual experience were most likely to be that vulnerable posn of beg aware of one’s stigmatized inty but lackg social disclosure as gay. Rponnts were asked about antigay harassment (“cludg beg lled nam”) before age 17; the ial tegori were dichotomized so that “repeatedly harassed” meant 4 or more AnalysChi-square tts were ed to exame univariate rrelat of (1) ever havg planned suici and (2) ever havg attempted suici for tegoril pennt variabl.

Bee some of the key variabl our analys (age at disclosure of gay or bisexual inty to others; early antigay harassment) varied wh rpect to hort, we pared chang across horts.

GAY, BISEXUAL MEN HAVE LOWER SUICI RISK MORE TOLERANT UNTRI

46, 57 Increas also were found reported rat of repeated antigay harassment before age 17 (om 28% among those aged 25 or olr by 1970 to 52% among those turng 25 after 1980) exame antecents of suici attempts, we ran a logistic regrsn wh the followg variabl: birth hort, race/ethnicy, parental tn, childhood sexual ercn, repeated terparental vlence, repeated childhood physil abe, parental substance abe, and repeated antigay harassment before age 17. The rrelat ially clud this regrsn were parental substance abe, repeated terparental vlence, repeated childhood physil abe, childhood sexual ercn, repeated harassment before age 17 about beg gay, age at first disclosure of gay or bisexual inty to others pared wh age at first or only suici attempt, age at first sexual experience wh another male pared wh age at first or only suici attempt, birth hort, parental tnal level, and race/ethnicy.

In the fal mol (Table 3 ▶), suici attempts before age 25 were associated wh birth hort (g of age after 1970), parental dg or alhol abe, repeated early antigay harassment, childhood sexual ercn, eher recent disclosure or nondisclosure of beg gay or bisexual to someone else, and eher recent onset of same-sex sexual relatns or not yet havg had sex wh another male. 18Bee fdgs the lerature suggt that antigay harassment and other experienc lked to the “g out” procs may mediate the relatn between birth hort and age at ial (or only) suici attempt, we re-ran this send logistil analysis as a hierarchil logistic regrsn mol which birth hort was entered first. Dpe the need for utn parg data om different sourc, the rat suggt that US gay and bisexual mal have more than a 3-fold creased risk of ever attemptg suici parison wh their heterosexual male ntug high levels of suici across birth horts suggt that this problem has not dimished the past few s.

Dpe the accumulated evince that “g out” and associatn wh affirmative gay/lbian/bisexual social works have posive effects terms of psychologil adjtment (particularly wh rpect to selfteem), 57, 59–61 this procs n also be associated wh some negative experienc.