Associations Between Electronic Bullying and Suicide Behavior in Racial/Ethnic and Sexual Minority Youth

• In Event: Polyvictimization Patterns for Ethnic and Sexual Minority Youth: Trauma, Suicide, and Mental Health Correlates

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescents’ growing exposure to social media has sparked attention to negative sequelae of electronic bullying victimization, including suicide. LGBT youth are more likely than their heterosexual peers to be victims of electronic bullying and to consider and attempt suicide. Associations of race/ethnicity with electronic bullying victimization and suicide behavior are less clear, nor do we understand how intersections of race/ethnicity and sexual minority status are associated with electronic bullying victimization and suicide behavior. This study explored the association between electronic bullying victimization and suicide behavior for youth who identify as both LGBT and a racial/ethnic minority.

Methods: Nationally representative data on high school students from the 2015 and 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) were analyzed. Data from the 2019 YRBS will be added by Spring 2021. Four items assessing past-year suicide behavior were collapsed to create a dichotomous variable (0 = no suicide behavior, 1 = any suicide behavior). Students reported on past-year electronic bullying and how much time they used technology for non-schoolwork purposes. A six-category variable specifying race/ethnicity and sexual orientation was calculated : 1) White heterosexual, 2) White sexual minority, 3) White/“unsure”, 4) racial/ethnic minority/heterosexual, 5) racial/ethnic and sexual minority, and 6) racial/ethnic minority/“unsure.” Logistic regression models predicting suicide behavior while controlling for sex, grade, and technology use tested two main effects (i.e., combined race/ethnicity and sexual orientation and electronic bullying victimization), as well as possible interaction between these two variables.

Results: Overall, 15,624 and 14,765 were included the 2015 and 2017 samples, respectively. In both 2015 and 2017 models, youth who reported electronic bullying victimization were more likely than youth who did not to report suicide behavior (p = .000). In the 2015 model, compared to White heterosexual youth, students who identified as any other category reported more suicide behavior (p = .000-.047). In the 2017 model, compared to White heterosexual youth, students who identified as any other category (except racial minority/heterosexual) reported more suicide behavior (p = .000). An interaction effect was observed in the 2017 model, such that for youth identifying as both a racial and sexual minority (versus youth who did not), electronic bullying victimization had a greater association with suicide behavior.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that youth who identify as a member of multiple minority groups and experience electronic bullying may be at increased risk of suicide behavior. Further research is needed to explore these associations and to improve targeted suicide prevention efforts.

Authors

• Lindsey Webb, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
  Presenting Author

• Laura K Clary, Johns Hopkins University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tamar Mendelson, Johns Hopkins University
  Non-Presenting Author