Abstract

Objective

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth are at increased risk for suicidality compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers, and outness (the extent to which an individual is open about their LGBTQ+ identity to others) is an important correlate of suicidality. However, previous research has led to mixed findings regarding whether outness functions as a risk or protective factor for suicidality, and the available evidence suggests that age may play an important role. As such, the goal of the current study was to examine whether the associations between outness and suicidality differed between LGBTQ+ adolescents (ages 12–17) and emerging adults (ages 18–24).

Method

The analytic sample included 475 LGBTQ+ youth who completed an online survey after contacting a national, LGBTQ+ crisis service provider.

Results

Results indicated that age significantly moderated the association between outness and suicidal ideation, such that greater outness was significantly associated with greater suicidal ideation for adolescents, but not for emerging adults. In contrast, age did not significantly moderate the associations between outness and likelihood of a past suicide attempt or perceived likelihood of a future suicide attempt. However, the main effect of outness was significant in both models, such that greater outness was significantly associated with a greater likelihood of a past suicide attempt and a greater perceived likelihood of a future suicide attempt.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that the associations between outness and suicidality among LGBTQ+ youth may depend on age as well as the dimension of suicidality (ideation versus attempt).

• Highlights

• Being more open about one’s LGBTQ+ identity may confer risk for suicidality.

• The influence of outness on suicidal ideation may be strongest during adolescence.

• There is a need for LGBTQ+ affirming policies and laws to reduce suicidality.

中文翻译：

---

LGBTQ+ 青少年的外向与自杀倾向之间的年龄差异

 抽象的

 客观的

与异性恋和顺性别同龄人相比，女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋、跨性别者和酷儿 (LGBTQ+) 青少年的自杀风险更高，而公开性（个人向他人公开其 LGBTQ+ 身份的程度）是一个重要的相关因素的自杀倾向。然而，之前的研究对于外在是否是自杀的风险因素或保护因素产生了不同的结果，并且现有证据表明年龄可能发挥重要作用。因此，本研究的目的是检验 LGBTQ+ 青少年（12-17 岁）和新兴成年人（18-24 岁）之间的外向与自杀之间的关联是否存在差异。

 方法

分析样本包括 475 名 LGBTQ+ 青少年，他们在联系全国 LGBTQ+ 危机服务提供商后完成了在线调查。

 结果

结果表明，年龄显着调节了外向与自杀意念之间的关联，因此对于青少年来说，外向程度越高，自杀意念就越高，但对于刚成年的成年人来说，则不然。相比之下，年龄并没有显着调节外在性与过去自杀企图的可能性或未来自杀企图的感知可能性之间的关联。然而，在两个模型中，外在性的主要影响都很显着，因此更大的外在性与过去自杀企图的更大可能性和未来自杀企图的感知可能性更大显着相关。

 结论

这些发现表明，LGBTQ+ 青少年的外在与自杀之间的关联可能取决于年龄以及自杀的维度（意念与企图）。

•  强调

• 
  对 LGBTQ+ 身份更加开放可能会带来自杀风险。

• 
  外在对自杀意念的影响在青春期可能最强。

• 
  需要制定 LGBTQ+ 肯定政策和法律来减少自杀率。