School-Based Supportive Practices and High School Student Suicide Rates.

PURPOSE: We examined whether school-based gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or other (LGBTQ +) supportive practices implemented in 2022 are associated with lower rates of suicide attempts among high-school students in 2023.

METHODS

Cross-sectional state-level survey data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2022 School Health Profiles and 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys were concatenated into one aggregate dataset. Associations between state-level rates of suicide attempts among high school students and 12 LGBTQ + supportive practices were analyzed using bootstrapped Pearson correlations with bias correction.

RESULTS

For each specific practice, a higher state-level percentage of schools reporting implementation in 2022 was correlated with lower rates of suicide attempts among high school students in 2023.

DISCUSSION: Greater state-level implementation of school-based LGBTQ + supportive practices is correlated with lower rates of reported suicide attempts among students the subsequent year. Establishing LGBTQ + supportive practices in schools may facilitate an environment that offers protective mental health benefits for all students regardless of sexual or gender identity.