Dr. Michelle Cretella, executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, told The Christian Post that the study “confirms what no one disputes: Namely, that youth who identify as LGBQT have higher rates of mental illness leading to a greater risk of life-threatening behaviors.”
(Leah MarieAnn Klett – Christian Post) LGBT youth are at a higher risk of suicide and life-threatening behavior than their heterosexual peers, a new study has found, with transgender teens being the most at risk.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 2.5 million adolescents published in JAMA Pediatrics concluded that “sexual minority youths” — those identifying as “homosexual,” “bisexual,” “transgender” — “have a significantly higher risk of life-threatening behavior compared with their heterosexual peers.”
To examine the risk of attempted suicide among sexual minority adolescents, differentiating for each sexual minority group, researchers searched electronic databases for articles published through April 30, 2017, with the following search terms: heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, adolescents, teens, and attempted suicide.
In total, thirty-five studies reported in 22 articles that involved 2,378,987 heterosexual and 113,468 sexual minority adolescents (age range, 12-20 years) were included in the analysis.
Research:
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