Abstract
Purpose
This study describes changes in proportions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
and other gender/sexual minorities (LGBTQ+) among total deaths by suicide in American
11–29 year olds between 2014 and 2019.
Methods
Data came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Violent
Death Reporting System (NVDRS). All cases classified as deaths by suicide since 2014
that had valid data for sexual orientation or transgender identity were included from
states that started participating in NVDRS before 2016. The latest year of data available
was 2019. Valid n = 4,086, including 673 LGBTQ+ cases. Analyses used “reverse regression” with gender/sexual
orientation as the dependent variable, essentially estimating contributions of timing
of fatal self-injury and other variables to relative risk of a case being LGBTQ+.
Results
The proportion of decedents who were LGBTQ+ increased between 2014 and 2019. Post-hoc
analyses suggested an inflection point or break in the trend at November 9, 2016.
The proportion of decedents who were LGBTQ+ increased from 13% before to 20% after
that date, driven largely by increases from 2.0% to 6.5% among transgender youth and
from 0.5% to 1.7% among those described in medical examiner and law enforcement reports
as “struggling” or questioning. Asian bisexual females and gay males were especially
overrepresented.
Conclusions
Previous research found that the policy environment affects LGBTQ+ youths' mental
health; this study generalizes those findings to actual deaths by suicide. LGBTQ+
youth at risk should be assessed for anxiety, trauma, and perceived physical threat
from the political and rhetorical environment.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 11, 2022
Accepted:
June 23,
2022
Received:
March 31,
2022
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: No financial conflicts of interest exist that would affect the conduct of this study or the reporting of results.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.
