Peer victimization, parental abuse and attempted suicide among sexual and gender minority youth: Population-level evidence

Abstract

Although a large body of research has analyzed how peer victimization shapes suicide risk for sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth, few population-representative studies have examined the impact of the abuse they face from their parents. Analyzing the 2023 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, this study provides the first nationally representative evidence on how peer victimization and parental abuse combine to shape suicide risk among contemporary American adolescents. Results show that SGM youth are almost as likely to be abused by an adult in their home as they are to be bullied by a peer at their school: 24.1 % of SGM teens reported frequent physical or emotional abuse at home compared to 28.3 % who reported recent bullying at school. Parental abuse and peer bullying commonly cooccur, such that, among SGM teens being abused by parents, the full majority (58.3 %) reported simultaneous bullying by peers. Although bullying and abuse each shaped suicide risk, these two forms of victimization mattered most when they were experienced together. Compared to SGM teens facing abuse from neither peers nor parents, those facing abuse from just one source were roughly twice as likely to report a recent suicide attempt, but those facing abuse from both sources simultaneously were over five times more likely. Taken together, these results underscore the importance of monitoring parental abuse in population health research and more fully analyzing the compounding contexts of abuse faced by SGM youth.