Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms and Suicidality Among Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Youth

• Published in: Journal of youth and adolescence Vol. 42; no. 8; pp. 1243 - 1256
• Main Authors: Marshal, Michael P., Dermody, Sarah S., Cheong, JeeWon, Burton, Chad M., Friedman, Mark S., Aranda, Frances, Hughes, Tonda L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.08.2013; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescents; Adults; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Child development; Children & youth; Clinical Psychology; Comorbidity; Cross-sectional studies; Depression - epidemiology; Depression - psychology; Drug use; Early Adolescents; Empirical Research; Female; Females; Gays & lesbians; Gender differences; Girls; Health Behavior; Health disparities; Health Psychology; Heterosexuality; Heterosexuality - psychology; Heterosexuality - statistics & numerical data; History of Psychology; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Law and Psychology; Life Stage Transitions; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mental depression; Mental health; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority Groups - psychology; Minority Groups - statistics & numerical data; Minority Health; Nursing; Persistence; Prevention; Psychiatry; Psychology; Psychopathology; Public health; Resistance (Psychology); Self Destructive Behavior; Sexual orientation; Sexual Preferences; Suicidal ideation; Suicide; Suicide, Attempted - psychology; Suicide, Attempted - statistics & numerical data; Suicides & suicide attempts; Teenagers; United States - epidemiology; Young adults; Youth; United States; Sexual minority youth; Latent growth curve modeling; Suicidality; Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth; Depressive symptoms; Sexual orientation; Trajectories
• DOI: 10.1007/s10964-013-9970-0
• ISSN: 0047-2891

Sexual minority youth report higher rates of depression and suicidality than do heterosexual youth. Little is known, however, about whether these disparities continue as youth transition into young adulthood. The primary goals of this study were to describe and compare trajectories of adolescent depressive symptoms and suicidality among sexual minority and heterosexual youth, examine differences in depressive symptoms and suicidality trajectories across sexual orientation subgroups, and determine whether there are gender differences in these longitudinal disparities. Four waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were analyzed using latent curve modeling (N = 12,379; 53 % female). Results showed that the rates of depressive symptoms and suicidality in early adolescence were higher among sexual minority youth than among heterosexual youth, and that these disparities persisted over time as participants transitioned into young adulthood. Consistent with previous cross-sectional studies, the observed longitudinal disparities were largest for females and for bisexually-identified youth. Sexual minority youth may benefit from childhood and early adolescent prevention and intervention programs.