Suicidality Among Sexual Minority Adults: Gender, Age, and Race/Ethnicity Differences

Ramchand, Rajeev; Schuler, Megan S.; Schoenbaum, Michael; Colpe, Lisa J.; Ayer, Lynsay

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2021.07.012

Cited by 52 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…For details on prior studies examining sexual minority identities in autism, see Table 1. 21,[23][24][25] In the general population, sexual minority adults experience higher levels of mental health problems, [26][27][28] suicide risk 29 and past-year suicidality 30 compared to heterosexual adults. The intersectionality of minority identities may be associated with unique risks for minority stress.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies of non-autistic sexual minority adults examining depression and anxiety 34 and suicidality 30,35 suggest that there may be differential risk within sexual minority groups. Thus, follow-up exploratory analyses sought to investigate whether poorer mental health and lower subjective quality of life in sexual minority compared to heterosexual autistic adults may be due to a broader effect of sexual minority status or whether particular sexual minority identities are show differential risks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparison of mental health and subjective quality of life in sexual minority versus heterosexual autistic adults

McQuaid¹,

Gendy²,

Lee³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: Although disparities in mental health and subjective quality of life have been reported for autistic adults, reasons for these disparities are poorly understood. A potential factor in these disparities is exposure to social stressors related to minority status (i.e., minority stress), including stigma and discrimination. Autistic individuals are more likely than non-autistic individuals to possess other minority identities, including sexual minority identities. However, to date, few studies have examined whether sexual minority autistic adults experience diminished mental health relative to heterosexual autistic adults, and no research has examined subjective quality of life for sexual minority compared to heterosexual autistic adults.Methods: Participants were 679 autistic adults aged 18.5 to 83.3 years recruited through Simons Powering Autism Research Knowledge Research Match. Participants completed surveys online, including measures of anxious and depressive symptomatology, perceived stress, and subjective quality of life. Participants reported their sexual orientation and other socio-demographic variables. Results: A large proportion of autistic adults reported a sexual minority identity (43.4%). Sexual minority autistic adults showed poorer mental health and lower subjective quality of life relative to heterosexual autistic adults. Diminished quality of life in the sexual minority group appears to be driven by the strength of the effects for gay and pansexual compared to heterosexual autistic adults. Conclusion: Understanding factors that may be related to poorer mental health and decreased subjective quality of life in autistic adults is critical and has been identified as a research priority among autistic stakeholders. The findings reported here underscore the need to examine mental health and subjective quality of life disparities among autistic individuals within a societal context, taking into consideration the potential of intersecting minority identities and increased social stressors, as these hold the potential to increase risks for poorer outcome.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of mental health and subjective quality of life in sexual minority versus heterosexual autistic adults

McQuaid¹,

Gendy²,

Lee³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Sexual minority individuals are two to six times more likely to attempt suicide compared with heterosexual individuals depending on the population examined ( King et al, 2008 ; Ramchand et al, 2022 ). In a study examining multiple sexual minority identities among college students, identifying as bisexual or pansexual was found to be among the strongest risk factors for suicide ideation, and those who identified as pansexual were more likely to report a past suicide attempt compared with other sexual minority people in the study ( Horwitz et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Sexual and Gender Minority People And Suicide-related Though...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sleep disturbance has been identified as a transdiagnostic risk factor for multiple mental health problems including suicide-related thoughts and behaviors (STBs) such as suicide ideation and suicide attempt ( Baglioni et al, 2014 , 2016 ; Bernert and Nadorff, 2015 ; Dolsen et al, 2014 ; Harvey, 2008 ). Sexual and gender minority (SGM) people are among the most vulnerable to suicide risk with rates of STBs, including death by suicide, two to six times higher than the general population ( Blosnich et al, 2014a ; Clements-Nolle et al, 2006 ; Haas et al, 2014 ; King et al, 2008 ; Knaani and Laur, 2021 ; Maguen and Shipherd, 2010 ; Ramchand et al, 2022 ; Zwickl et al, 2021 ). Preventing suicide among SGM people requires identifying and treating modifiable contributors to STBs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sleep disturbance and suicide risk among sexual and gender minority people

Dolsen

Byers²,

Flentje³

et al. 2022

Neurobiology of Stress

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“…Sexual and gender minority (SGM), or people who have lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and other non-cisgender and non-heterosexual identities (LGBTQIA+), both in the United States (US) and internationally, experience mental health disparities compared with their cisgender (not transgender)/heterosexual peers, especially related to suicidality [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. A recent study examining suicidality among sexual minorities in the US found that 4% of heterosexual men and women had suicidal thoughts during the past 12 months compared with 11.6% of gay men, 11.0% of lesbians, 17.4% of bisexual men, and 19.9% of bisexual women [ 2 ]. Suicidal ideation tends to be higher among younger SGM people [ 4 ]; 45% of SGM youth consider suicide each year [ 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderating Effect of Community and Individual Resilience on Structural Stigma and Suicidal Ideation among Sexual and Gender Minority Adults in the United States

Pharr

Chien

Gakh

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Background: Structural stigma in the form of discriminatory laws and policies impacts the mental health of sexual and gender minorities, especially with regard to suicidality. However, this relationship could be moderated by resilience. The past two years has brought anti-SGM legislation, particularly transgender sports bans, at the state level in the United States into focus. This study aims to understand if the relationship between familiarity with transgender sports bans (proposed or enacted) and suicidality was moderated by individual or community resilience. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of survey data collected from a national sample of 1033 SGM adults in the United States between 28 January and 7 February 2022. Univariate and multivariate moderation analyses were used. Results: In the univariate analyses and the final model, community resilience moderated the relationship between structural stigma and suicidality (p = 0.0002); however, individual resilience did not (p = 0.0664). Conclusion: Interventions to bolster community resilience may attenuate the negative mental health impacts of structural stigma and are warranted, along with concerted efforts to minimize structural stigma in the form of discriminatory laws and policies targeting people who are SGM.

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Suicidality Among Sexual Minority Adults: Gender, Age, and Race/Ethnicity Differences

Cited by 52 publications

References 49 publications

Comparison of mental health and subjective quality of life in sexual minority versus heterosexual autistic adults

Comparison of mental health and subjective quality of life in sexual minority versus heterosexual autistic adults

Sleep disturbance and suicide risk among sexual and gender minority people

Moderating Effect of Community and Individual Resilience on Structural Stigma and Suicidal Ideation among Sexual and Gender Minority Adults in the United States

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