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Youth suicide risk and sexual orientation - Statistical Data Included

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

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The second hypothesis predicted that the level of suicide risk among heterosexual and homosexual males would be similar. The scores on the Suicidal Ideation and Hostility subscales of the SPS and levels of lethality in suicidal thoughts and attempts as determined by responses to the Suicide Questionnaire were used to test this hypothesis. The participants' mean scores are listed by sexual orientation in Table 2. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed on these data. No significant differences emerged between the homosexual and heterosexual male participants in terms of level of suicide risk. Wilks's lambda was .98; F(1, 39) = .26. The results of the analysis revealed that sexual orientation had no effect on male participants' suicide risk scores. Thus, the second hypothesis was not refuted.

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The third hypothesis predicted that youth who report feeling supported by friends, school staff, or family would exhibit less suicidal ideation than would those youth who do not feel supported. Table 3 shows the correlations between support and suicide risk scores. As expected, all risk scores correlated negatively with support, several significantly: SPS Hopelessness, Hostility, Suicidal Ideation, and Negative Self-Evaluation, and BHS. Thus, support was negatively related to suicide risk, as hypothesized.

DISCUSSION

This study had several limitations. First, it utilized a convenience sample comprised of youth from a community organization and from a university, which diminishes the generalizability of the results. Second, because of the low number of participants (especially in the analysis comparing risk among males), only the most significant effects could be detected. Therefore, the findings should be viewed conservatively as an initial exploration of youth suicide risk across the spectrum of sexual orientation.

The bisexual/questioning youth of this study showed no greater suicide risk than did the others. This finding challenges previous studies and suggests that not all bisexual/questioning youth are at increased risk for suicidal behavior. Social support may be a mitigating factor in the two variables that are highly correlated with youth suicide risk--isolation and hopelessness (Savin-Williams, 1992; Rotheram-Borus et al., 1995). As is the case for the majority group, supportive peers may in fact reduce the level of suicide risk for bisexual/questioning youth.

The findings for heterosexual and homosexual males challenge previous research and bring elements of the current approach to youth suicide risk assessment into question. Specifically, are homosexual youth predisposed to greater suicidal behavior simply because of their sexual orientation? The results of this study suggest that this is not the case.

Support appeared significantly related to lower scores on the BHS and the SPS Negative Self-Evaluation and Hostility subscales, suggesting it may indeed have a positive effect on reducing suicide risk. Further youth suicide research should explore the importance of support as a potential mitigating variable.

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Youth suicide risk and sexual orientation - Statistical Data Included

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

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