麻豆传媒映画

LGBTQIA+ adolescents with unstable housing situations -- including those kicked out of their homes by their parents after coming out -- are at significantly higher risk of suicidal thoughts, depression, and other mental-health issues than stably housed peers, according to a study led by a professor at 麻豆传媒映画 Imperial Valley.

Adolescents in the study who experienced multiple episodes of housing instability were more than nine times more likely to report a suicide attempt than those who had never experienced housing instability. 

Family rejection is associated with particularly severe consequences, the study found.

Youth whose housing instability was linked to rejection because of their sexual orientation had more than six times the odds of attempting suicide compared with those whose housing instability stemmed from other causes, such as financial hardship or family conflict. These adolescents also experienced significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms, due to the critical role family acceptance plays in protecting youth's mental health.

The research was led by Eleni Gaveras, 麻豆传媒映画 Imperial Valley social work professor, in collaboration with Jane Leer, 麻豆传媒映画 assistant professor in psychology, Roxanne Lottie Romero, 麻豆传媒映画 Imperial Valley social work student, and Harmony Rhoades, Washington University in St. Louis research associate professor at the Sexuality Health and Gender Center. 

It was published in the journal . 

The study focuses on the group known as sexual and gender minority (SGM), an umbrella term used by the National Institutes of Health and other researchers that takes in LGBTQIA+ youth and others who may not self-identify with those labels or have variations in sex identities.  

It draws data from the previously published Adolescent Stress Experiences Over Time Study (ASETS)  which followed 1,076 SGM adolescents across the U.S. for 36 months, examining how different housing experiences influenced mental health outcomes. The ASETS study is a longitudinal study that was headed by Jeremy Goldbach, Brown University professor, and his team at the Washington University in St. Louis in the Sexuality, Health and Gender (SHAG) center.

Sharper focus

The goal of Gaveras鈥檚 group was to focus more specifically on the issue of housing instability, and how different types of instability relate to mental health among members of a group already at high risk for violence and bullying during a sensitive period of their development.

Their findings showed that more than one-third of participants experienced housing instability at some point during childhood or adolescence. Among those participants, nearly 29% reported that rejection related to their sexual orientation contributed to losing stable housing. Participants experienced a range of housing situations, such as couch surfing, family homelessness and unaccompanied homelessness.

鈥淲e know there are existing disparities in housing and suicide among LGBTQIA+ adolescents. But, the relationship between the two has been less understood,鈥� said Gaveras.

Repeated housing instability was also associated with significantly higher levels of depression and anxiety symptoms by the end of the three-year study.

鈥淕iven our striking finding that chronic housing instability was associated with nine times the odds of a suicide attempt as compared with no instability, combined housing and suicide prevention interventions may be urgently needed,鈥� said Gaveras.

The authors emphasize their findings point to an urgent need for expanded family-centered housing programs and integrated services that address both housing and mental health. 

Preventing chronic housing instability, supporting families before conflict leads to homelessness, and strengthening suicide prevention efforts within housing services could significantly improve outcomes for LGBTQIA+ adolescents.

鈥淢any social work interventions focus on LGBTQIA+ unhoused adolescents and young adults on their own,鈥� said Gaveras. 鈥淲e found that important new areas for social work interventions for LGBTQIA+ adolescents is to add family services, as well as housing and suicide prevention.鈥�

The work was supported by a grant from National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, an arm of the NIH.