Citation

Savin-Williams RC. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 2001; 69(6): 983-991.

Affiliation

Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. rcs15@cornell.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11777125

Abstract

Two questions were addressed regarding suicide attempts among sexual-minority youths: Who should be classified as a sexual minority, and what constitutes a suicide attempt? Results from 2 studies indicated that sexual-minority youths, broadly defined in terms of sexual orientation and recruitment venue, were slightly more likely than heterosexual youths to report a suicide attempt. To afford a more accurate assessment of suicide attempts, a detailed measure distinguished true from false attempts. This method eliminated over half of suicide attempt reports among sexual minorities because they were false attempts-ideation rather than a concrete act to end life. Furthermore, many true attempts were not life threatening, suggesting that the reports were attempts to communicate the hardships of lives or to identify with a gay community.

Language: en