Abstract
ObjectivesThis study was conducted to estimate whether emotional and behavioural problems mediate the association between sexual minority status and suicidal behaviour among Chinese adolescents. We also tested whether such mediation is moderated by the sex assigned at birth.DesignCross-sectional observational study.SettingA secondary analysis of the cross-sectional data collected from 7th-grade to 12th-grade students in junior high schools (n=36), senior high schools (n=24) and vocational high schools (n=12) in six cities of Guangdong Province, China. A multistage, stratified cluster, random sampling method was used in the 2019 School-based Chinese Adolescents Health Survey.ParticipantsA total of 16 663 students aged 11–20 years.Outcome measuresTwo main psychological and mental health outcomes: (1) self-reported version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to measure emotional and behavioural problems; and (2) presence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in the past 12 months.ResultsEmotional and behavioural problems (peer problems, emotional problems, conduct problems and hyperactivity) partially mediated the effects of sexual minority status on suicidal ideation (indirect effect=0.020, 95% CI 0.015 to 0.025) and suicide attempts (indirect effect=0.012, 95% CI 0.009 to 0.016), accounting for 18.18% and 14.46% of the total effect, respectively. Further moderated mediation analyses revealed a greater risk of suicidality among sexual minority girls.ConclusionsEmotional and behavioural problems partially explained the increased risk of suicidality among sexual minority adolescents, and appreciably higher among sexual minority girls than boys. To prevent subsequent suicidality, the risks of emotional and behavioural problems in sexual minority adolescents should be identified at an early stage and reduced by means of preventive measures.
Funder
Guangdong Food and Drug Administration
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province
Reference49 articles.
1. WHO . Suicide, 2021. Available: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide [Accessed September 9, 2021].
2. Longitudinal trajectories and predictors of adolescent suicidal ideation and attempts following inpatient hospitalization.
3. [The change in mortality and major causes of death among Chinese adolescents from 1990 to 2016];Xu;Zhonghua Yu Fang Yi Xue Za Zhi,2018
4. Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence.
5. [The association of bullying with suicide ideation, plan, and attempt among adolescents with GLB or unsure sexual identity, heterosexual identity with same-sex attraction or behavior, or heterosexual identity without same-sex attraction or behavior];Montoro;Sante Ment Que,2015
Cited by
4 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献