A rise in suicide rates among youth is alarming. Among American youths, suicide is the third main cause of death (Mustanski and Liu, 2013). Especially, LGBT youths may face more suicidal risks due to many factors that derive directly and indirectly from their sexual identities. Likewise, some scholars predict that there is a high suicide risk among LGBT youths. It is important to specify this group of LGBT youths because their non-binary sexual identity may lead to other at-risk behaviors and suicidal tendencies that may not occur in the lifestyle of non-LGBT youths.
To understand the relationships between the sexual orientation to the suicide risks among youths, three studies present detailed data to closely examine the underlying cause of …show more content…
When studying youths in general, it is difficult to gather a reliable sample for many reasons. This is especially true for any studies conducted for LGBT youths because these are selective groups that may not be openly visible in the community yet. Because of the nature of this sample group, the study is limited to a small number of samples or selective samples that is not random (Mustanski and Liu, 2013). Another limitation of youths in these studies is that most of these data are self-reported scores and answers from survey questionnaires (D 'Augelli, et al., 2005). However, duplicating these data, conducting double-blind surveys, and cross observing the data would ensure its reliability and validity (D 'Augelli, et al., 2005; Mustanski and Liu, …show more content…
Interestingly enough, Rutter and Soucar (2002) challenged the hypothesis that LGBT youths are more at risks for suicide attempts. Of the 100 youths that they questioned, they measured the variables of hopelessness, suicide probability, and suicide history. When Rutter and Soucar (2002) assessed suicide risks among LGBT youths and compare the data with heterosexual youths, the results indicated that the sexual orientation did not have a significant effect on suicide risk scores according to Beck’s Hopelessness Scale score, Suicide Probability Scale hopeless score, Negative Self-Evaluation, and Suicidal Ideation scores. Moreover, there was no significant difference of suicidal risks when compared with homosexual and heterosexual youths (Rutter and Soucar, 2002). However, Rutter and Soucar (2002) confirmed from their data that the youths with less social support had higher suicide risk factors. This literature (Rutter and Soucar, 2002) argues that the youth suicide risk assessment needs to focus more on the psychosocial stressors instead of demographic factors, like sexual orientation. Rutter and Soucar (2002) confirms this by showing data that confirm that social support can be a more important factor than a sexual identity to determine the life-threatening behavior for youth. However, this lack of social support
To understand the relationships between the sexual orientation to the suicide risks among youths, three studies present detailed data to closely examine the underlying cause of …show more content…
When studying youths in general, it is difficult to gather a reliable sample for many reasons. This is especially true for any studies conducted for LGBT youths because these are selective groups that may not be openly visible in the community yet. Because of the nature of this sample group, the study is limited to a small number of samples or selective samples that is not random (Mustanski and Liu, 2013). Another limitation of youths in these studies is that most of these data are self-reported scores and answers from survey questionnaires (D 'Augelli, et al., 2005). However, duplicating these data, conducting double-blind surveys, and cross observing the data would ensure its reliability and validity (D 'Augelli, et al., 2005; Mustanski and Liu, …show more content…
Interestingly enough, Rutter and Soucar (2002) challenged the hypothesis that LGBT youths are more at risks for suicide attempts. Of the 100 youths that they questioned, they measured the variables of hopelessness, suicide probability, and suicide history. When Rutter and Soucar (2002) assessed suicide risks among LGBT youths and compare the data with heterosexual youths, the results indicated that the sexual orientation did not have a significant effect on suicide risk scores according to Beck’s Hopelessness Scale score, Suicide Probability Scale hopeless score, Negative Self-Evaluation, and Suicidal Ideation scores. Moreover, there was no significant difference of suicidal risks when compared with homosexual and heterosexual youths (Rutter and Soucar, 2002). However, Rutter and Soucar (2002) confirmed from their data that the youths with less social support had higher suicide risk factors. This literature (Rutter and Soucar, 2002) argues that the youth suicide risk assessment needs to focus more on the psychosocial stressors instead of demographic factors, like sexual orientation. Rutter and Soucar (2002) confirms this by showing data that confirm that social support can be a more important factor than a sexual identity to determine the life-threatening behavior for youth. However, this lack of social support