The Relationship between Sexual Minority Status and Suicidal Ideations among Urban Hispanic Adolescents

Youth identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ), and more specifically Hispanic youth identifying as LGBTQ, experience suicidal ideation (SI) at disproportionate rates. Furthermore, adolescents identifying as LGBTQ are likely to experience high rates of bullying, depression, and limited social support, increasing SI. Counselors often have difficulty working with youth at the intersection of sexual and ethnic minority statuses. Using structural equation modeling techniques, the present study examined sexual minority status as a predictor of school bullying, depression, social support, and SI, among urban Hispanic youth (N = 538). The authors also tested social support as a buffering mechanism.