Young lesbian and bisexual women (YLBW) are more likely to report considering and attempting suicide than their heterosexual female peers, or gay and bisexual male peers. Most researchers combine lesbians/bisexual (L/B) females with other sexual minorities, resulting in a paucity of suicide research specific to YLBW, and calls to action for research on sexual minority subgroups. A need exists to identify factors that protect against the development of suicidality, particularly among sexual minority young people. Within the scant protective factor research, YLBW are severely under-represented.
Responding to calls to action, this study will examine the effects of L/B-specific individual and interpersonal protective factors on theoretical pathways of risk for active suicide ideation. This project integrates the minority stress and integrative-motivational-volitional theories, testing the hypotheses that individual protective factors (positive L/B identity, general resilience, general self-compassion) and interpersonal social support (L/B community involvement and connection, general social inclusion/belonging, and general social support) will moderate, or weaken, the known connections between minority stress (sexual minority-based victimization, discrimination, and concealment behaviors) and active suicide ideation (frequency, intensity/duration, and plans/preparation/rehearsal) through entrapment (defeat and entrapment, hopelessness, and brooding/rumination) and general psychopathology (depression, anxiety, personality disorders, substance misuse, and general victimization experiences). Further, we will explore whether these hypothesized effects are equivalent or different between L/B subgroups.
We will administer an anonymous online survey to 550 females aged 18 to 26 who identify as L/B, recruited from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with targeted advertisements. A latent variable moderated mediation model will test study hypotheses using structural equation modeling techniques. Minority stress will serve as the independent variable, entrapment and general psychopathology as mediators, and active suicide ideation as the outcome variable, with individual and interpersonal protective factors as moderators of these pathways.
Aligning with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention's priority area #3 and AFSP's mission to better understand suicide risk among sexual minority groups, this is the first known study to a) examine positive sexual orientation variables as protective factors against suicide ideation among YLBW; b) address the lack of data regarding YLBW's risk for suicide by using latent variable modeling to test a theoretical model of risk, and comparing the equivalence or difference of the model between YLBW; c) provide information about malleable individual- and social-level factors clinicians and public health program planners can address to prevent suicide among YLBW; and d) use a strength-based, asset-building approach to study suicide risk and prevention of the development of active suicidal thinking among YLBW. Data from this project will facilitate conducting a larger longitudinal study to test the stability of the model over time and moderating effects of sensitive developmental transition periods from adolescence through young adulthood, as well as examine suicidal behavior as an outcome. Ultimately, the proposed project will inform clinical practice and suicide prevention public health programming targeting YLBW, as well as launch the PI's career as an LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention researcher, providing the foundation for a consistent program of study in this area.
