Associations between LGBTQ+-supportive school and community resources and suicide attempts among adolescents in Massachusetts.

Marla E Eisenberg, Brittany A Wood, Darin J Erickson, Amy L Gower, Shari Kessel Schneider, Heather L Corliss
Author Information
  1. Marla E Eisenberg: Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health. ORCID
  2. Brittany A Wood: Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health. ORCID
  3. Darin J Erickson: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health. ORCID
  4. Amy L Gower: Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health. ORCID
  5. Shari Kessel Schneider: Education Development Center, Inc. ORCID
  6. Heather L Corliss: School of Public Health. ORCID

Abstract

Supportive school and community resources are associated with reduced risk of suicidality among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ +) adolescents as well as their cisgender, heterosexual peers. This study examined whether adolescents attending schools and living in communities with more versus fewer LGBTQ +-supportive resources were at lower risk of a past-year suicide attempt. Data on sexual orientation and past-year suicide attempt were obtained from student surveys administered in 30 Massachusetts public high schools between 2014 and 2017 ( = 20,790). Data on school resources were obtained from a questionnaire administered to school officials, and community resources were assessed through internet searching. Modified Poisson generalized estimating equations tested associations between school and community LGBTQ +-supports and suicide attempt separately by sex/gender, adjusting for student, school, and community covariates. Several school resources and the availability of community-wide LGBTQ +-supportive resources were associated with lower risk of a suicide attempt among several subgroups of students, even after controlling for the presence of multiple school and community resources and covariates. For example, the risk of a suicide attempt among gay, bisexual and questioning boys in schools with a gender-neutral restroom was approximately half compared to gay, bisexual and questioning boys in schools without this resource. Past year suicide attempts were also significantly lower among questioning, RR = 0.56, CI [0.37-0.86], and heterosexual, RR = 0.59, CI [0.50-0.68], girls living in communities with more supportive resources compared to those in communities with fewer resources. LGBTQ +-supportive resources in schools and communities may be beneficial for all adolescents regardless of sexual orientation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

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Grants

  1. R01 HD078470/NICHD NIH HHS
  2. /National Institutes of Health; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

MeSH Term

Adolescent
Female
Humans
Male
Massachusetts
Schools
Sexual and Gender Minorities
Students
Suicide, Attempted

Word Cloud

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