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Industry: Email Alert RSS FeedGay adolescents and suicide: understanding the association
Adolescence, Fall, 2005 by Robert Li Kitts
By noting the changes taking place in the media and the law, it is apparent that being gay is somewhat more accepted and tolerated by today's society. However, gays are still being discriminated against and victimized (Goldfried, 2001; Heimberg & Safren, 1999; Paul et al., 2002; Hart & Heimberg, 2001; DuRant et al., 1998; Russell et al., 2001; Bontempo & D'Augelli, 2002; McDaniel et al., 2001; Savin-Williams, 1994). Russell et al. (2001) reported a study involving 500 gay and lesbian adolescents in which it was found that 41% had experienced violence, and 46% of that violence was reported as being related to being gay. In a study by Bontempo and D'Augelli involving over 9,000 9th through 12th graders, 24% of gay/bisexual males reported at-school victimization ten or more times per year as compared with 2.7% of their heterosexual counterparts, and 10.1% of lesbian/bisexual females compared with 1.1% of their female counterparts (Bontempo & D'Augelli, 2002). These negative experiences can result in mood disorders, lower self-esteem, posttraumatic stress symptoms, substance abuse, and suicide (Gould et al., 2003; Paul et al., 2002; Nelson, 1997; Russell et al., 2001; Savin-Williams, 1994).
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An adolescent does not need to be directly victimized to be affected by discrimination against gays. Matthew Shephard, a University of Wyoming student, was brutally murdered in 1998 because he was gay. What impact did this devastating event have on young individuals who were beginning to realize that they too were gay and living in the same society in which the murder was praised. What messages are protestors and politicians, including our President, who are against gay marriage sending to gay adolescents? How does living in a society where people can be rejected, disapproved of, or hated for their sexuality affect a gay adolescent's self-esteem or identity development? (Nelson, 1997).
Further, what may be even worse than being hated by society because of one's sexuality is being rejected, humiliated, and victimized by one's own family or peers. Gay adolescents have a much greater incidence of being thrown out of or opting to leave their homes (Nelson, 1997; Cochran et al., 2002). In a study involving 194 gay adolescents between the ages of 14 and 21, D'Augelli et al. (1998) reported that 26% of fathers, 10% of mothers, and 15% of siblings rejected their gay children when they came out. Goldfried (2001) reported that one out of every three were verbally abused by family members, one out of ten were physically assaulted by a family member, and one out of four had experienced physical abuse at school. The fear of experiencing such outcomes can be a tremendous stressor (Heimberg & Safren, 1999; Hart & Heimberg, 2001). How does a gay, closeted child feel when living with parents who adamantly reject gay marriage? Only 10 to 14% of gay adolescents who had not come out to their parents predicted parental acceptance (D'Augelli et al., 1998). How do these negative outcomes or fear of such negative outcomes also affect an adolescent's self-esteem or identity development? Nelson (1974) points out that gay adolescents who report a history of a suicide attempt score significantly lower on scales of family support, self-perception and self-esteem, and extra-familial social support when compared to similar adolescents without a reported history of suicidal ideation or suicide attempts.
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