Suicidal Behavior and Coming Out Milestones in Three Cohorts of Sexual Minority Adults

Abstract

Purpose: We describe the timing of suicidality across the life span in three cohorts of sexual minority adults. We hypothesized that suicide attempts coincide with the coming out period and that younger sexual minority people, who grew up in more accepting social environments, will have lower prevalence of suicide attempts than older generations. Methods: A U.S. national probability sample of 1518 sexual minority adults in three age cohorts of 18-25, 34-41, and 52-59 years (collected 2016-2018) completed a self-administered survey. Results: Sexual minority adults had high prevalence of lifetime suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts, with the highest attempted suicides in the younger cohort (30.8%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 26.8-35.1) compared with the middle (23.7%, 95% CI = 19.0-29.1) and older (20.3%, 95% CI = 16.3-25.1) cohorts. There were no differences in suicidal behavior by race and ethnicity or between men and women, but gender nonbinary people had higher prevalence of suicidal thoughts. The mean age at suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts tracked closely with age of first realization of sexual minority identity. Most suicide attempts (60.9%) occurred within 5 years of realizing one's sexual minority identity, but a significant proportion of attempts (39.1%) occurred outside this range. Conclusion: Our findings are contrary to the hypothesis that younger cohorts of sexual minority people are at lower risk of suicidality.

Coming Out (or not) on College Applications: Institutional and Interpersonal Dimensions of Disclosing LGBQ+ Identities

“…This research highlights the importance of having LGBQ+ people at the table and providing them with the opportunity to share their experiences as institutional efforts at LGBQ+ data collection advance and has implications beyond the academy. As research by scholars at the Williams Institute demonstrates, LGBQ+ people face challenges in many institutional settings, including (but not limited to) discrimination in the workplace, higher incarceration rates, and inequalities in health and health care access (Meyer et al 2021; Meyer, Wilson, and O’Neill 2021; Wilson et al 2021). It is important that leaders within these institutions work to address these problems, and counting and communicating with their LGBQ+ members is a good place to start.…”

“…Social context and timing matter. Research shows that LGBQ+ people are coming out at earlier ages in recent years than those from older cohorts (Floyd and Bakeman 2006; Grov et al 2006; Meyer et al 2021). And although earlier cohorts of lesbian and bisexual women tended to come out at a later age than gay and bisexual men, in more recent cohorts there is no gender difference in age of disclosure (Balsam and Mohr 2007; Dunlap 2016; Grov et al 2006).…”

Is the association between sexual minority status and suicide-related behaviours modified by rurality? A discrete-time survival analysis using longitudinal health administrative data

“…accessing a wider range of culturally-informed and LGBTQ+ health providers) 82,83 . There is emerging evidence that telepsychiatry could be particularly useful for younger sexual minority individuals 84 , who are the age cohort most likely to experience SRB 85 . Provincial governments could expand on programs that are created for residents of rural Ontario communities with the aim of reducing geographic-related health disparities, such as the Telemental Health provided through the Centre for Mental Health and Addictions 86 .…”

Health and Social Inclusion: The Impact of Psychological Well-Being and Suicide Attempts Among Older Men Who Have Sex With Men

“…In 2011, more MSM were believed to have died from suicidal behavior than from HIV-related diseases in Canada ( Wang et al, 2021 ), and China has recorded a dramatic rise in suicide-related actions ( Del Río-González et al, 2021 ; Ogunbajo et al., 2021 ; VanBronkhorst et al, 2021 ). Suicidal ideation, which can be described as pondering, contemplating, or making preparations for suicide ( Meyer et al, 2021 ), has been linked to an increased risk of suicide ( Bochicchio et al, 2021 ; Lee et al, 2021 ). The minimal success in preventing suicide is a lack of understanding, particularly concerning how and when suicidal thoughts possibly evolve into suicidal acts ( Morgan et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Suicidal ideation, which can be described as pondering, contemplating, or making preparations for suicide (Meyer et al, 2021), has been linked to an increased risk of suicide (Bochicchio et al, 2021;Lee et al, 2021). The minimal success in preventing suicide is a lack of understanding, particularly concerning how and when suicidal thoughts possibly evolve into suicidal acts (Morgan et al, 2020).…”