In a sample of New York City youth, a Rutgers Health researcher finds Black lesbian, gay and bisexual adolescents faced the highest rising rates of suicidal ideation, attempts and bullying. Compared with their heterosexual peers, thinking about suicide, attempting suicide, bullying in school and cyberbullying are happening at least double the rates among lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adolescents – with these trends increasing among Black LGB adolescents, according to Rutgers Health research.
“The Congressional Black Caucus recently rang the alarm on the fast-rising rates of suicide in Black youth communities through an emergency task force report,” said Devin English, an assistant professor in the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at the Rutgers School of Public Health and author of the study published in the Journal of Urban Health. “Our findings suggest that our response to this call should prioritize Black lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth.”
English, along with a multidisciplinary group of academic and New York City Department of Health researchers, examined trends in suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and bullying among students across different racial and sexual identities by analyzing 2009-2019 NYC Youth Risk Behavior Survey data. The NYC Youth Risk Behavior Survey collects a representative sample of adolescents attending public and charter schools throughout the city. To read the full story.