Author(s): The Trevor Project
- Amy Green, PhD – Director of Research
- Myeshia Price-Feeney, PhD – Research Scientist
- Samuel Dorison, LLM, MSc – Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer
Published: Feb. 6, 2020
Report Intro/Brief:
“This report is the first to compare findings on suicidality among LGB youth ages 18–25 to those among LGB U.S. high school students, including the provision of adjusted odds ratios to assess suicidality risk among LGB youth compared to straight peers.
Key Findings
The magnitude of disparities in suicidality between straight and LGB adolescents persists into young adulthood.
- Even when adjusting for additional factors, LGB young adults ages 18–25 were more than four times as likely to report planning and attempting suicide in the past year compared to straight peers.
- 10.4% of LGB youth ages 18–25 reported making a suicide plan in the past year compared to 2.6% of straight peers.
- 5.7% of LGB youth ages 18–25 reported a suicide attempt in the past year compared to 1.3% of straight peers.
LGB young adults ages 18–25 were three times as likely to report a major depressive episode in the past year compared to their straight peers.
- 30.9% of LGB youth ages 18–25 met criteria for a major depressive episode in the past year compared to 11.1% of straight peers.
- A greater proportion of bisexual young adults ages 18–25 met criteria for a major depressive episode (32.7%) compared to gay/lesbian young adults (26.8%).
The data currently collected do not allow for nationally representative analyses on gender identity or suicide deaths.
- National surveys of youth and young adult experiences now include questions on sexual identity but do not consistently include questions on gender identity.
- Death record databases do not currently include accurate information on sexual identity and gender identity that would allow for analyses to include deaths by suicide in addition to suicide ideation and attempts.”
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