Differences in suicidality and psychological symptoms between sexual and gender minority youth compared to heterosexual and cisgender youth in a psychiatric hospital

• Published in: Children and youth services review 2022-07, Vol.138, p.106504, Article 106504
• Main Authors: Ugueto, Ana M., Lucassen, Mathijs F.G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescents; Anxiety; Anxiety disorders; Children; Cisgender; Clinical assessment; Depression; Drug abuse; Drug use; Drugs; Emotional regulation; Emotions; Epidemiology; Gender; Heterosexuality; Hopelessness; Hospitalization; Hospitals, psychiatric; Injuries; Inpatient care; Medical records; Medicine; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Pessimism; Post traumatic stress disorder; Psychological problems; Risk; Self control; Self destructive behavior; Self injury; Self-injurious behavior; Sexual and gender minorities; Stress; Suicide; Suicides & suicide attempts; Symptoms; Transgender persons; Trauma; Youth
• ISSN: 0190-7409; 1873-7765
• DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106504

•38% of patients on a psychiatric unit identified as sexual and gender minorities.•3% of patients identified as transgender.•Sexual and gender minority youth reported more psychological symptoms.•Sexual and gender minority youth reported more self-harming behaviors.•Sexual and gender minority youth had twice the odds of suicide risk. We aimed to examine differences in depression, hopelessness, anxiety, traumatic stress, emotion regulation, suicidality, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and drug use between sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) and heterosexual, cisgender youth (HCY) admitted to an acute, psychiatric inpatient unit in Texas. We also sought to predict participants’ suicide risk level at hospitalization using psychological and demographic variables. Adolescent inpatients completed: a demographic questionnaire; the Center for Epidemiological Studies Scale for Children; the Hopelessness Scale for Children; the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders; the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale–16; the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory; and the Child Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Scale–5. The Columbia - Suicide Severity Rating Scale–Screener Version, and history of suicide attempts and drug use were extracted from medical records. Data were analyzed using independent t-tests and chi-square tests to determine differences in symptoms between SGMY and HCY. A logistic regression was utilized to predict the likelihood of ‘high’ versus ‘low’ suicide risk. This study included 348 adolescents, mean age 15.31 years, who identified as primarily female (63.22%) and heterosexual, cisgender (61.30%), with many being Hispanic/Latino (40.23%). Nearly 38% of patients identified as SGMY; 3% identified as transgender. SGMY reported significantly more symptoms of depression, hopelessness, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation, reported significantly more suicide attempts, and were more likely to engage in NSSI than HCY. No differences were found for traumatic stress or drug use. SGMY had double the odds of high suicide risk (OR = 2.06, 95% CI,1.14–3.71), even after controlling for depression and suicide attempts. SGMY, compared to HCY inpatients, were particularly vulnerable to developing psychological symptoms, engaging in self-harm, and attempting suicide.