Institutional Betrayal among LGBTQ Youth: Examining the Association with Suicidality
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Date
2024-01-09
Authors
Gallo, Mavis
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Suicide is a national public health issue that effects communities, individuals, and society as a whole. Suicidality among youth in the United States in on the rise. Some groups of youth are unequally burdened by suicidality, particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. There has been a good amount of research establishing the elevated risk for suicidality among LGBTQ youth. Extant literature has attempted to identify risk and protective factors for suicidality among all youth, but there is a lack of understanding about the impact of identity-based risk factors that impact LGBTQ youth. This study examines previously identified risk and protective factors: identity-based school violence, having a Gender/Sexuality Alliance in schools, and having identity-based antibullying policies in schools. Another challenge of this work is the lack of theoretical foundation. Though such an integrated theoretical framework has not yet been established, the present study utilizes components from two often utilized models and introduces a case for including interpersonal trauma-focused theory (institutional betrayal) in order to inform a more comprehensive approach to understanding suicidality among LGBTQ youth. Including institutional betrayal in the study of suicidality among LGBTQ individuals, particularly youth, is relevant, as they report multidimensional discrimination from various institutions, including schools. A potential explanation for the disproportionate rates of suicidality are due to the high rates of institutional betrayal these youth experience.
This retrospective study found that institutional betrayal was an important contributor to suicidality among participants in grades 5 through 12. The results of this study provide compelling evidence for the impact of schools on the mental health of LGBTQ youth. Throughout each iteration of the analyses, institutional betrayal remained robustly associated with suicidality. The results of this study have important implications for field of suicidology, especially in light of unsupported hypotheses. Limitations of the study, implications, and future directions are discussed.
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Keywords
Gender and Sexual Minority Mental Health, Institutional Betrayal, Suicidology