CHICAGO (AP) — Suicide attempts by gay teens — and even straight kids — are more common in politically conservative areas where schools don't have programs supporting gay rights, a study involving nearly 32,000 high school students found.
Those factors raised the odds and were a
substantial influence on suicide attempts even when known risk contributors
like depression and being bullied were considered, said study author Mark
Hatzenbuehler, a Columbia University psychologist and researcher.
His study found a higher rate of suicide attempts
even among kids who weren't bullied or depressed when they lived in counties
less supportive of gays and with relatively few Democrats. A high proportion of
Democrats was a measure used as a proxy for a more liberal environment.
The research focused only on the state of Oregon
and created a social index to assess which outside factors might contribute to
suicidal tendencies. Other teen health experts called it a powerful, novel way
to evaluate a tragic social problem.
"Is it surprising? No. Is it important?
Yes," said Dr. Robert Blum of Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public
Health.
The study "takes our relatively superficial
knowledge and provides a bit more depth. Clearly, we need lots more
understanding, but this is very much a step in the right direction," he
said.
Blum serves on an Institute of Medicine committee
that recently released a report urging more research on gay health issues. Blum
said the new study is the kind of research the institute believes has been
lacking. The independent group advises the government on health matters.
The new study was published online Monday in the
journal Pediatrics.
Previous research has found disproportionately high
suicide rates in gay teens. One highly publicized case involved a Rutgers
University freshman who jumped off a bridge last year after classmates recorded
and broadcast the 18-year-old having sex with a man.
The study relied on teens' self-reporting suicide
attempts within the previous year. Roughly 20 percent of gay, lesbian and
bisexual teens said they had made an attempt, versus 4 percent of straight
kids.
The study's social index rated counties on five
measures: prevalence of same-sex couples; registered Democratic voters; liberal
views; schools with gay-straight alliances; schools with policies against
bullying gay students; and schools with antidiscrimination policies that
included sexual orientation.
Gay, lesbian and bisexual teens living in counties
with the lowest social index scores were 20 percent more likely to have
attempted suicide than gays in counties with the highest index scores. Overall,
about 25 percent of gay teens in low-scoring counties had attempted suicide,
versus 20 percent of gay teens in high-scoring counties.
Among straight teens, suicide attempts were 9
percent more common in low-scoring counties. There were 1,584 total suicide
attempts — 304 of those among gays, lesbians and bisexuals.
Hatzenbuehler said the results show that
"environments that are good for gay youth are also healthy for
heterosexual youth."
The study is based on 2006-08 surveys of
11th-graders that state health officials conducted in Oregon classrooms; Oregon
voter registration statistics; Census data on same-sex couples; and public
school policies on gays and bullying.
The researchers assessed proportions of Democrats
versus Republicans; there were relatively few Independents. Information on
non-voters wasn't examined.
Zachary Toomay, a high school senior from Arroyo
Grande, Calif., said the study "seems not only plausible, but it's
true."
The star swimmer, 18, lives in a conservative,
mostly Republican county. He's active in his school's gay-straight alliance,
and said he'd never been depressed until last year when classmates
"ostracized" him for being vocal about gay rights.
Toomay said signs of community intolerance,
including bumper stickers opposing same-sex marriage, also made him feel down,
and he sought guidance from a school counselor after contemplating suicide.
Funding for the study came from the National
Institutes for Health and a center for gay research at the Fenway Institute, an
independent Harvard-affiliated health care and research center.
Michael Resnick, a professor of adolescent mental
health at the University of Minnesota's medical school, said the study
"certainly affirms what we've come to understand about children and youth
in general.
"They are both subtly and profoundly affected
by what goes around them," he said, including the social climate and
perceived support.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
