Report Details Gay Youth Suicide Risk

(AP)  Young gay people whose parents or guardians responded negatively when they revealed their sexual orientation were more likely to attempt suicide, experience severe depression and use drugs than those whose families accepted the news, according to a new study.

The way in which parents or guardians respond to a youth's sexual orientation profoundly influences the child's mental health as an adult, say researchers at San Francisco State University. The findings appear in the January issue of Pediatrics and are being released Monday.

"Parents love their children and want the best for them," said lead researcher Caitlin Ryan, a social worker who directs the university's Family Acceptance Project. "Now that we have measured all these behaviors, we can see that some of them put youth at extremely high risk and others are wellness-promoting."

Among other findings, the study showed that teens who experienced negative feedback were more than eight times as likely to have attempted suicide, nearly six times as vulnerable to severe depression and more than three times at risk of drug use.

More significantly, Ryan said, ongoing work at San Francisco State suggests that parents who take even baby steps to respond with composure instead of rejection can dramatically improve a gay youth's mental health outlook.

One of the most startling findings was that being forbidden to associate with gay peers was as damaging as being physically beaten or verbally abused by their parents in terms of negative feedback, Ryan said.

In the two-part study, Ryan and her colleagues first interviewed 53 families with gay teenagers to identify 106 specific behaviors that could be considered "accepting" or "rejecting." For example, blaming a youth for being bullied at school, shielding him from other relatives or belittling her appearance for not conforming to social expectations fell into the rejecting category.

Next, they surveyed 224 white and Latino gay people between ages 21 and 25 to see which of the behaviors they had experienced growing up. The responses then were matched against the participants' recent histories of severe depression, suicide attempts, substance abuse and unsafe sexual behavior.

While the results might seem intuitive, Ryan said the study, funded by the California Endowment, was the first to establish a link between health problems in gay youths and their home environments.

She has used the information in workshops with parents and other caregivers who have strained relationships with their gay teenagers, and said many were alarmed enough to make immediate changes in their interactions.

In her paper for Pediatrics, Ryan recommends that medical professionals ask young patients how their families have reacted to their sexual orientations and tell parents that negative reactions may prove harmful even if well-intentioned.

Such conversations are necessary because young people have been coming out at younger ages. Consistent with other studies, the youths in Ryan's study were on average younger than 11 when they first experienced a same-sex attraction, were just over 14 when they realized they were gay and came out to their families before they had turned 16.

Sten Vermund, a Vanderbilt University pediatrician who became interested in Ryan's work this summer when she presented her research at the international AIDS conference in Mexico City, agrees that doctors should be encouraged to talk with parents about responding to a child's sexual orientation in a supportive way.

"So many families of children who are gay, bisexual or transgender, particularly families of gay male youth, think that if they are tough on the kid and tell him how unsatisfactory his gay lifestyle is to the family, he will have it knocked out of him," Vermund said.

Vermund said he also was impressed by Ryan's finding that a little bit of familial acceptance could go a long way in increasing a child's chances for future happiness.

"The Southern Baptist doesn't have to become a Unitarian," he said. "Someone can still be uncomfortable with their child's sexual orientation, but if they are somewhat more accepting and do the best the can, they will do the youth a lot of good. That to me is an important message."

[f091964]

rielle62 should kicked out of the human race

[questionnews]

I wonder how they qualified "responded negatively"?
Was the parent caught off guard by the announcement & needed a couple minutes? If the parent appear shocked & surprised, is that responding negatively? Was anything less that being celebratory & overjoyed considered "responded negatively"??
If my kid suddenly announced that he converted to Hinduism, I would probably have a "What the he!!" reaction at first, but would accept it after is sinks in a bit.

[brannigon]

Report Details Gay Youth Suicide Risk. Yeah, thats it; put the idea into their heads with this trash and movies that encourage this! The media is ruling our lives and we don''t even know it! Pathetic!

[rf35]

rielle62,you are a FREAKING IDIOT, and it is idiots like you that need to be exterminated from this world!
Gay''s were born gay, I guess you were just born and IDIOT!!!
Posted by berchesgaden at 06:22 AM : Dec 30, 2008

Actually, rielle62 is homosexual or possibly bisexual. He or she is experiencing a common reaction that occurs when a person raised to revile homosexuality (often due to religious upbringing to the point of fanaticism) realizes their own homosexual preferences. People like rielle62 will subconsciously repress their desires and lash out violently at anything that threatens to bring their true orientation to the surface where it would have to be consciously faced.

[berchesgaden]

rielle62,you are a FREAKING IDIOT, and it is idiots like you that need to be exterminated from this world!
Gay''s were born gay, I guess you were just born and IDIOT!!!

[lordsuntzu]

maybe just maybe..gay or not..we are raising our children to be WHINEY..NEEDY..AND WEAK..

unable to cope with anything...do you think this is the very first time someone ''young'' had to deal with stress??????

[kansas1946]

P.S. THE PARENTS SHOULD START AN INVESTIGATION TO FIND OUT WHO ABUSED THEIR CHILD...OR SOMEONE AT SCHOOL, IF IT WAS THE PARENTS.


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Posted by darnedsocks at 03:22 PM : Dec 29, 2008
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Do you know any g a y people. Have you talked to them. Obviously not. You really need to do some research.

[kansas1946]

it''''s not like we are losing a future Einstein.


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Posted by baileycc at 05:01 PM : Dec 29, 2008
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I would beg to differ. There have been numerous creative and high-achieving g a y s in history. You might want to do a little research on that.

[naber1961]

People just have to start getting the reality that we are born how we are. No one chooses to be GLBT..the younger generation is much more accepting. there still are bigots and hypocrites and always will be, but change is coming faster now than at anytime in our history. Parents need to accept their children as who they are and not what they want them to be. Being gay doesnt have to mean you are immoral, abnormal etc. God made us all how we are and loves us all.

[doorgunner3]

What I find disgusting is the faux science that goes into thees half-baked "studies." What''s even worse is how the tragedy of these kids'' suicides are ginned up into a social cause by dishonest advocacy groups.

Of course if your child (or sibling, or friend) says that he or she is gay you don''t reject them. That''s evil. You don''t reject them because they decide to worship another faith. You don''t reject them because they join another political party, or date a person of another race.

Duh.

YOU DON''T REJECT THEM.