Poster #18 - Suicidality, Depression, and Victimization Amongst Sexual Minority, Ethnically Diverse Adolescents

• In Event: Poster Session 16

Abstract

Bullying victimization rates for sexual minority (SM) youth are several times greater than for their heterosexual peers (Williams et al., 2005; YRBS, 2019) with as high as 80% of SM adolescents reporting victimization or peer harassment (Ybarra et al., 2014). SM youth also experience more physical and emotional abuse and are more likely to be depressed and suicidal than their heterosexual counterparts (Fox et al., 2020). However, few studies have acknowledged the intersectional struggles of adolescents who are members of both sexual and ethnic minoritized groups. The current study examined intersections between sexual orientation and racial identity, as they relate to suicidality, depression, and victimization.
We compared differences in the frequency of self-reported suicidality, depression, and victimization in adolescents across different ethnic groups and sexual orientations using 2019 Fairfax County (VA) Youth Survey data, wherein 48,915 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students (36.4% White, 10.5% Black, 22.8% Hispanic, 22.6% Asian, and 7.8% Other/Multiple races, and 83.3% heterosexual, 2.2%, gay/lesbian, 8.4%, bisexual, and 6.2% unsure) completed established survey items from well-known scales examining a variety of risky behaviors, experiences, attitudes, and other factors that influence the well-being of Fairfax County’s youth. All outcome variables were coded into dichotomous yes/no variables. We hypothesized that 1) SMs will have the highest frequency of suicidality, depression, and victimization compared to heterosexuals, 2) bisexual adolescents, in particular, would experience more suicidality, depression, and victimization compared to gay/lesbian and questioning individuals, 3) Black adolescents would experience more suicidality, depression, and victimization compared to other ethnic groups, and 4) the extent to which sexual minorities experienced increased victimization/suicidality/depression would be greater for Black and Latinx students compared to other ethnic groups.
Three 4 (sexual orientation) by 5 (race) ANCOVA models (with the interaction term, controlling for age and gender) were run. As seen in Table 1, multi-raced individuals displayed the highest rate of victimization and suicidal ideation compared to the other racial groups. Hispanic individuals displayed higher rates of feeling hopeless and suicide attempts. White individuals displayed the lowest rates of depression and suicidality. In terms of sexual orientation, bisexual individuals displayed the highest rates of victimization, hopelessness, and suicidality across all sexual orientation groups (p < .05). Heterosexual individuals displayed the lowest rates of victimization, hopelessness, and suicidality compared to other sexual orientations. SM by ethnicity group interactions were significant for both suicidality variables, showing the importance of considering intersectionality of race/ethnicity and sexual orientation for youth outcomes. For most racial groups, bisexual individuals displayed the highest frequencies of suicidal ideation, however, for mixed-race individuals, gay/lesbian individuals had the highest rates of suicidal ideation (Table 2). For most ethnic groups, bisexual individuals showed the highest rates of attempted suicide, but for Black youth, gay/lesbian individuals had the highest rates of attempted suicide. By the time of the poster, additional models will be run to examine whether gender moderates the findings reported above. Results have implications for parents, teachers, interventionists, and other professionals trying to maximize the wellbeing of all youth including the many intersectional identities present.

Authors

• Christina Waddell, George Mason University
  Presenting Author

• Adam Winsler, George Mason University