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Family Acceptance Key In Preventing Gay Youths From Considering Suicide [View all]
from NPR
A new study pinpoints signs that LGBT teens may be at risk for suicide and suggests how to intervene.
Chances are you've seen a YouTube video featuring _______ (fill in a celebrity's name) telling America's gay teens that "it gets better."
There are a slew of them promising that the bullying will eventually subside and that life will improve, if teens can just hang in there.
It's a fitting campaign in light of suicide sitting third on the list of causes of death among young people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And for young people who happen to be gay, it's even a bigger threat. They're four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.
When it comes to protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teens from considering suicide, a study involving about 250 of them has identified several risks and one major protective factor.
"This is the first data pointing us to where we can act," study author Brian Mustanski tells Shots. "This is the first study to look at the thoughts and behaviors of suicide. It lets us look at what those predictors are."
In the study, the LGBT participants who had an impulsive personality and a history of suicide attempts thought about killing themselves more often. And, in what should be abundantly clear these days, young people who were harassed for their sexual orientation were more likely to consider suicide, the researchers found.
So what stopped death from popping into the participants' minds? A strong support system of family and friends acted like a protective mental shield against perilous thoughts. The teens who knew they could open up to their parents about their problems seemed to fare better by having a positive influence on their thoughts.
The findings — specific to LGBT youth — could help health care professionals, teachers, family members and friends pick up on the precursor signs of suicide contemplation.
The results appear in the latest issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Chances are you've seen a YouTube video featuring _______ (fill in a celebrity's name) telling America's gay teens that "it gets better."
There are a slew of them promising that the bullying will eventually subside and that life will improve, if teens can just hang in there.
It's a fitting campaign in light of suicide sitting third on the list of causes of death among young people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And for young people who happen to be gay, it's even a bigger threat. They're four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.
When it comes to protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teens from considering suicide, a study involving about 250 of them has identified several risks and one major protective factor.
"This is the first data pointing us to where we can act," study author Brian Mustanski tells Shots. "This is the first study to look at the thoughts and behaviors of suicide. It lets us look at what those predictors are."
In the study, the LGBT participants who had an impulsive personality and a history of suicide attempts thought about killing themselves more often. And, in what should be abundantly clear these days, young people who were harassed for their sexual orientation were more likely to consider suicide, the researchers found.
So what stopped death from popping into the participants' minds? A strong support system of family and friends acted like a protective mental shield against perilous thoughts. The teens who knew they could open up to their parents about their problems seemed to fare better by having a positive influence on their thoughts.
The findings — specific to LGBT youth — could help health care professionals, teachers, family members and friends pick up on the precursor signs of suicide contemplation.
The results appear in the latest issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
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