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. 2020 Dec;50(6):1158-1166.
doi: 10.1111/sltb.12679. Epub 2020 Aug 3.

Questions of faith: Religious affiliations and suicidal ideation among sexual minority young adults

John R Blosnich  1 , Susan De Luca  2   3 , Megan C Lytle  4 , Chris Brownson  5
Affiliations

Questions of faith: Religious affiliations and suicidal ideation among sexual minority young adults

John R Blosnich et al. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To examine how the associations of specific religious affiliations with recent suicidal ideation vary by sexual orientation among young adults.

Method: This project was a cross-sectional secondary analysis of data from the 2006 and 2011 surveys of the National Research Consortium of Counseling Centers in Higher Education. The analytic sample was restricted to persons between the ages of 18-29 (n = 40,150). Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations of religious affiliations with recent suicidal ideation between heterosexual and sexual minority (e.g., gay, lesbian, bisexual, questioning) young adults.

Results: Approximately 6.7% of the sample self-identified as sexual minority. Compared to heterosexuals, sexual minorities were more likely to report recent suicidal ideation (aOR = 4.52, 95% CI = 3.97-5.16). Among heterosexuals, Unspecified Christian and Catholic denominations were associated with 24% and 37% reduced odds of recent suicidal ideation compared to agnostic/atheist heterosexuals. However, among sexual minorities, Unspecified Christian and Catholic denominations were associated with 68% and 77% increased odds of recent suicidal ideation compared to agnostic/atheist sexual minorities. Unspecified Christian and Catholic sexual minorities had 184% and 198% increased odds of recent suicidal ideation compared to Unitarian/Universalist sexual minorities.

Conclusions: Although protective for heterosexuals, religious affiliation may not be globally protective against suicidal ideation among sexual minorities.

Keywords: religion; sexual orientation; suicidal ideation.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the institutions, National Institutes of Health, or the United States Government.

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