Violence Victimization And Perpetration: Potential Mediators Of The Relationship Between Sexual Minority Status And Suicide Risk

Suicide is an area of significant public health concern, particularly for vulnerable populations such as youth and sexual minority students. Sexual minority youth (SMY) are at an additional risk, given their higher prevalence rates of suicidality. Rates of violence victimization and perpetration are also higher among SMY. Prior research has shown links between victimization and suicide risk, as well as perpetration and suicide risk, but has not examined the mechanisms behind the specific impact of these factors on suicide risk in SMY; we aimed to address this gap in the literature. The present study examined whether violence victimization and perpetration independently mediate the relationship between being a sexual minority and suicide risk, using a large (N = 14,107), nationally representative sample of high school student responses on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). We ran separate binary logistic regression models to examine whether or not victimization and perpetration mediated this relationship. All four models were statistically significant and showed partial mediation, although none were clinically significant (see Figures 1-4). More research on the specific mechanisms that underlie suicide risk for SMY is needed, since identifying the pathways that lead to increased risk can inform new targets for suicide prevention.