Suicidal Ideation Risk Factors: Examining Differences and Similarities Between Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Youth

Youth suicidal ideation is a serious health concern. This studyexpands on existing knowledge through an examination of contemporarysuicidal ideation prevalence rates by sexual orientation in a large,representative sample and explores differences in risk factors bysexual orientation. Data come from a sample of over 600,000 Americanhigh school youth. Results indicate that 18.5% of youth report havingseriously considered suicide, including 13.3% of heterosexual youthcompared to 43.0% of sexual minority youth. Sexual orientation,gender, obesity, bullying victimization, sexual victimization, andsubstance use are significantly predictive of suicidal ideation.