 |
Youth who self-identify as gay, lesbian or
bisexual at higher suicide risk, say Montreal researchers
Mental health professionals have long-known that gay, lesbian and
bisexual (GLB) teens face significantly elevated risks of mental health
problems, including suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts. |
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| However, a group of
McGill University researchers in Montreal has now come to the conclusion
that self-identity is the crucial risk-factor, rather than actual sexual
behaviours. Their results were published in February in the Journal
of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
The researchers administered a detailed, anonymous
questionnaire to nearly 1,900 students in 14 Montreal-area high schools,
and found that those teens who self-identified as gay, lesbian or
bisexual, or who were unsure of their sexual identity, were indeed at
higher risk for suicidal ideation and attempts. However, teens who had
same-sex attractions or sexual experiences – but thought of themselves
as heterosexual – were at no greater risk than the population at large.
Perhaps surprisingly, but consistent with previous studies, the majority
of teens with same-sex sexual attraction or experience considered
themselves to be heterosexual.
"This is the first study that has separated sexual
identity from sexual attractions and behaviours in looking at risk for
poor mental health outcomes," said corresponding author Dr. Brett Thombs,
of the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (LDI) at the Jewish
General Hospital.
"It's important to realize that a large proportion of
people who have sex with or are attracted to people of the same sex do
not identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual. They consider
themselves heterosexual." added co-author Dr. Richard Montoro of the
McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). "Those students were not at all
at risk of worse mental health outcomes."
"The main message is that it's the interface between
individuals and society that causes students who identify as gay,
lesbian, or bisexual the most distress," said study first author Yue
Zhao, a McGill University graduate student working with Dr. Thombs..
"Sexual orientation has three different components. The first is
identity, which is dependent on the society in which one lives; the
second is attraction or fantasy; and the third is behaviour. Previous
studies have not addressed which of those components may explain why GLB
youth are at risk."
"What this all means is that clinicians need to look
not just at individuals and their sexuality, they really need to assess
the environment they are coming from and how they see themselves within
it," said study co-author Dr. Karine Igartua. Igartua and Montoro are
co-directors of the McGill University Sexual Identity Centre (MUSIC),
the first gay and lesbian mental health centre in Canada.
"Our findings also clearly suggest that further study
of the link between anti-gay sentiment and suicidality need to be
undertaken," added Thombs |
