• The study found that gay/lesbian (18.4%), bisexual (18.1%), questioning (25.9%), and queer+ (18.9%) youth all had significantly higher rates of high suicide risk than heterosexual (9.1%) youth.

• The chart shows the proportion of youth at high risk of suicide (using the SIQ) by sexuality.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

It is well known that sexual minority youth have more negative mental health outcomes than heterosexual youth. However, data suggests that there are important variations in mental health outcomes between certain minority identities as well.

Differences in Mental Health Outcomes within Sexual Minority Youth

Hilary M. Miller, Bianca L. Kahl, Sophia Garlick Bock & Katherine Guinta. (2021). Minorities within Minorities: Mental Health Outcomes within Sexual Minority Youth, Journal of Bisexuality, 21:4, 516-540, DOI: 10.1080/15299716.2021.2004966

Minorities within Minorities: Mental Health Outcomes within Sexual Minority Youth

• In one study, a significantly greater percentage of gay/lesbian (87.1%), bisexual (85.4%), and queer+ (86.1%) youth had previously accessed mental health services than heterosexual youth (70.6%).

• The same study found that significantly more bisexual (24.0%) and questioning (21.1%) youth had previously been hospitalized for mental health issues than heterosexual (11.8%) youth.

• Differences in hospitalization between gay/lesbian (15.5%) and queer+ (14.5%) youth and heterosexual youth were not significant.

• The chart shows rates of mental health hospitalization by sexuality.

Use of Mental Health Services and Hospitalizations Among Sexual Minority Youth

• The study found a significant difference in mean depression scores between heterosexual youth (21.8) and bisexual (26.1), questioning (27.1), and queer+ (26.4) youth. There was no significant difference between heterosexual and gay/lesbian (25.1) youth.

• Similarly to depression scores, a significant difference in mean anxiety scores was found between heterosexual (15.5) youth and bisexual (18.8), questioning (18.2), and queer+ (19.0) youth. No significant difference was found between heterosexual and gay/lesbian (17.6) youth.

• A significant difference was found in mean stress scores between heterosexual (21.2) youth and bisexual (24.3) and queer+ (24.0) youth. There was no significant difference observed between heterosexual youth and gay/lesbian (22.6) and questioning (23.4) youth.

• The chart shows the mean scores (using DASS-21) on depression, anxiety, and stress by sexuality.

Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Among Sexual Minority Youth

Suicide Risk Among Sexual Minority Youth

• While there were no statistically significant differences found between sexual minorities, there were noticeable differences in relation to heterosexual youth.

• Bisexual, questioning, and queer+ youth differed significantly from heterosexual youth far more often than gay/lesbian youth did.

• Bisexual youth were the only ones who differed significantly from heterosexual youth on every measure.

• These differences, while technically not statistically significant between minorities, still show that mental health outcomes vary between minorities. This knowledge should be taken into account in mental health professions in order to better care for patients.

Overall Findings

• The study was conducted on a sample of youth living in Australia who were using the online mental help platform ReachOut.

• The study's use of a sample that was actively using mental health resources may have skewed the numbers in the sample to be higher than in the general population.

• The results also solely apply to young people and did find that mental health outcomes seem to improve with age, particularly when it came to risk of suicide.

• Overall, the study is not particularly generalizable, but is still a valuable source of information on differences in mental health outcomes.

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