Youth suicide risk and sexual orientation - Statistical Data Included

Adolescence, Summer, 2002 by Philip A. Rutter, Emil Soucar

The Suicide Questionnaire (SQ) incorporates items from a standard clinical interview (Meehan, Lamb, Saltzman, & O'Caroll, 1992). Although the questionnaire exhibits high face validity and offers a nonthreatening method of assessing the history and lethality of suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts (Muehrer, 1995; Gibson, 1989), its reliability and validity have not yet been assessed.

A demographics form was used to obtain information about socioeconomic, cultural, and educational background. The demographics form included questions about the amount of support the participant receives from friends, family, and school staff, as well as questions about the participant's sexual orientation.

Because research indicates bisexual and questioning youth have more limited social support and may be confused about their sexual identity, the first hypothesis predicted that bisexual and questioning youth would exhibit greater levels of suicidal ideation than would the other groups (i.e., heterosexuals and homosexuals). These factors have been shown to increase levels of hopelessness and suicidality (Hollander, 2000; Rotheram-Borus et al., 1994; Savin-Williams, 1994; Schneider & Tremble, 1986). Specifically, bisexual/questioning youth were expected to score significantly higher on the BHS and the Hopelessness, Negative Self-Evaluation, and Suicidal Ideation subscales of the SPS.

Research by Coleman and Remafedi (1989) suggests that homosexual male youth and heterosexual male youth are similar in terms of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Accordingly, the second hypothesis predicted that suicide risk among homosexual and heterosexual male participants would be similar. Specifically, they were expected to obtain similar scores on the Suicidal Ideation and Hostility subscales of the SPS and similar levels of lethality on the SQ.

Research underscores the importance of support for young people's psychological well-being. Youth who receive counseling or peer support exhibit healthier coping mechanisms and maintain a more positive outlook about their future (De Wilde, Kienhorst, Diekstra, & Wolters, 1993), in contrast to youth who lack support, with their greater likelihood of becoming truant or engaging in criminal behavior or substance abuse (Berndt & Savin-Williams, 1993; Himmelman, 1993). The third hypothesis proposed that youth who feel supported by friends, groups, counselors, or family members would express less suicidal ideation than those who do not feel supported. Specifically, youth who perceived themselves as having adequate social support were expected to have significantly lower BHS scores and lower Negative Self-Evaluation and Hostility subscale scores on the SPS than youth who did not perceive themselves as having adequate social support.

RESULTS

Table 1 groups participants by sexual orientation and displays their mean scores on the various scales. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed to analyze these data. Wilks's lambda was .87; F(2, 94) = .12 (not significant at the .05 level). Results of this analysis revealed that sexual orientation did not have a significant main effect on suicide risk scores in this sample (i.e., BHS score; SPS Hopelessness, Negative Self-Evaluation, and Suicidal Ideation subscale scores), and therefore the first hypothesis was not supported. Thus, bisexual and questioning youth exhibited no greater suicide risk than did the other groups.