The research indicating the incidence rates and specific risks for suicide in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning (GLBQ) adolescent population is reviewed. An ecological model of suicide risk assessment for GLBQ youth is presented based on Bronfenbrenner's model ...

Suicide is a tragic and costly yet preventable issue in public health that affects people of all races, ethnicities, ages, genders, and sexual orientation in the United States (U.S.) and worldwide. Over the years, suicide has remained the third leading cause of death for youths between 15-24 years of age in the U.S [1]. Suicide and selfinflicting injurious behaviors in LGBTQ adolescents are associated with mental health challenges that include lack of acceptance from peers, discrimination, family rejection, and school failure. The purpose of this article is to report current suicide statistics by demographics, discuss suicide risk and protective factors, and review prevention strategies and intervention efforts.

Research indicates that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents are three times more likely to consider suicide than their heterosexual peers. Although research has identified risk factors for suicide among this population, little is known about school-level protective factors among this population, which may buffer the impact of risk.This study aims to understand whether school-based protective factors (e.g., school safety, relationships with caring adults at school, school connectedness) are associated with decreased suicidal ideation for LGB adolescents. Logistic regression analyses were conducted on the data generated by the San Francisco Unified School District's 2011 California Healthy Kids Survey to examine the influence of protective factors related to suicidal ideation for LGB adolescents (n = 356). Results indicated that higher levels of school connectedness predicted less suicidal ideation (odds ratio = .59, p =. 005). This study provided evidence that school pro...

Over the years, one of the greatest challenges and deeply disturbing occupational hazards faced by all therapists, in particular, and people, in general, has been the rapid increase in suicide rates. According to a report of the World Health Organization (WHO), every year around 800 thousand people commit suicide with much more in number who attempt it. Suicide is one of the leading causes of deaths with the risk amplifying for those belonging to the sexual minority groupsprimarily the LGBT peoplewhose sexual and / or gender identity and preferences mismatch with the stereotypical norms set by the majority in the society. Addressing the alarming concern, World Mental Health Day 2019 was celebrated with the “40 seconds of action” agenda for raising awareness on the burgeoning incidence of suicide rates and individual role to help prevent suicide. The purpose of the present paper was to review the various factors that put sexual minority adolescents at risk of suicide. A systematic re...

It has been suggested that there is a strong relationship between suicidal behavior and homosexuality in adolescence. It has been further suggested that it is due to the stigmatization and feelings of isolation that are experienced by many gay adolescents. Much of the literature that has given support to these hypotheses has been conducted on uncontrolled nonrepresentative samples and its generalizability is open to question. An opportunity to examine the relationship in an unselected sample arose in a case control, psychological autopsy study of 120 of 170 consecutive suicides under age 20 and 147 community age, sex, and ethnic matched controls living in the Greater New York City area. Homosexuality was defined as having had homosexual experiences or having declared a homosexual orientation. Three teenagers and no controls met these criteria. The difference was not significant. The circumstances of death were examined and are described. In no instance did suicide directly follow an...

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationship between sexual orientation and suicide risk in a population-based sample of adolescents. METHODS: Participants were selected from a cross-sectional, statewide survey of junior and senior public high school students. All males (n = 212) and females (n = 182) who described themselves as bisexual/homosexual were compared with 336 gender-matched heterosexual respondents on three outcome measures: suicidal ideation, intent, and self-reported attempts. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between sexual orientation and outcome measures with adjustment for demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Suicide attempts were reported by 28. 1 % of bisexual/homosexual males, 20.5% of bisexual/homosexual females, 14.5% of heterosexual females, and 4.2% of heterosexual males. For males, but not females, bisexual/homosexual orientation was associated with suicidal intent (odds ratio [OR] = 3.61 95% confidence interval [CI = 1....