Do Victimization and Hopelessness Relate to Suicidality Differently Across Sexual Orientation? Evidence from the 2015-2023 U.S. Youth Risk Behavior Surveys.

This study assessed whether associations between suicidality, victimization, and hopelessness varied across heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual, and unsure-orientation youth. Data comprised 20,367 complete cases drawn from the 2015-2023 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. Overlap propensity score weights balanced more than 40 suicidality-related covariates (e.g., gender, age, race/ethnicity, health behaviors, substance use, and risk-seeking behaviors) across groups. Weighted logistic regressions estimated group differences and tested sexual orientation by stressor interactions. After weighting, bisexual, homosexual, and unsure-orientation youth exhibited significantly higher odds of suicidal ideation and planning compared to heterosexual peers (ORs = 2.06-4.19), though adjusted differences in suicide attempts were varied (ORs = 0.89-1.46). While victimization and hopelessness were robustly associated with ideation and planning across all groups (ORs = 1.73-3.32), their associations with suicide attempts were inconsistent (ORs = 0.32-1.45). Interaction analyses between sexual orientation and these stressors showed inconsistent results (ORs = 0.54-1.69), suggesting that, the impact of victimization and hopelessness may not vary uniformly by orientation. Supplementary analyses of 2023 data indicated that among transgender youth, victimization had a weaker association with suicide outcomes (ORs = 0.56-0.99), whereas hopelessness was more strongly correlated with ideation and planning (ORs = 1.46-5.73). These transgender-specific estimates should be interpreted with caution due to small subgroup size and limited covariate overlap. Together, these findings highlight heterogeneity in suicidality across sexual-orientation groups and emphasize the need for longitudinal research with richer contextual and biological measures to clarify mechanisms and subgroup-specific risk and protective factors.