Pierre J. Tremblay
Presented
at the Sixth Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Suicide
Prevention, Banff, Alberta, October 11-14, 1995, (c) Oct 1995. First made
available on the Internet on January 19, 1996.
Table 3:
Gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth: studies reporting suicide attempt incidence.
|
|
| Gay-related stressors, attempters
versus non-attepters. Out to parent (53% vs 30%), discovered gay by parents
(37% vs 23%), by others in family (41% vs 28%), ridiculed for sex identity
(57% vs 45%), all not statistically significant. For all males: lifetime
prevalence rates 50% higher for alcohol use, 300% higher for marijuana
use, and 800% higher for cocaine / crack use than national
average for same-age youth. Lesser differences reported in Magnuson (1992)
study.. |
|
| Related Factors/Reasons:
Substance abuse problems 26/37 males, 7/13 females. Positive family relationship:
only 2/37 males. Most prevalent feeling for females: isolation. First sexual
experience for males at 14 years (average), all with strangers. 35/37 homosexually
active. For females 5/13 = 38%. Most suicide attempters got mental health
services outside school. All deny their homosexual orientation to mental
health professionals. |
|
24. Gibson, P. Gay and Lesbian Youth Suicide. In: Feinlieb, MR., ed.
Vol. 3: Prevention and Intervention in Youth Suicide, Report of the
Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide, U.S. Department of Health
& Human Services, 1989.
33. Rotheram-Borus, MJ., Hunter, J., and Rosario, M. Suicidal behavior
and gay-related stress among gay and bisexual male adolescents. Unpublished
Manuscript, Columbia University. Data and results summarized in #35, p.
265, 267.
35. Savin-Williams, RC. Verbal and physical abuse in the lives of lesbian,
gay male, and bisexual youth: Associations with school problems, running
away, substance abuse, prostitution, and suicide. Journal of Consulting
and Clinical Psychology, 1994; 62(2): 261-69.
37. Uribe, V., and Harbeck, KM. Addressing the needs of les bian, gay,
and bisexual youth: The origins of PROJECT 10 and school-based intervention.
In: Harbeck, Karen M., ed. Coming Out of the Classroom Closet. Haworth
Press, Inc., Binghampton, N.Y., 1992, pp. 9-28. Also published in the Journal
of Homosexuality, 1992.
