Citation

Charbonnier E, Dumas F, Chesterman A, Graziani P. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018; 15(2): e15020290.

Affiliation

Department Psychology, Letter, Languages and History, LPS (Laboratoire Psychologie Sociale), 30000 Nimes, France. pierluigi.graziani@unimes.fr.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph15020290

PMID

29414915

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Lesbians, gays, and bisexual people (LGB) present high levels of suicidal ideation. The disclosure of sexual orientation is a stressful experience which presents a high suicide risk. Research has not paid sufficient attention to stress during this disclosure in order to understand suicide among LGB people. The aims of this study were to investigate: (1) the characteristics of stress during this revelation, more precisely cognitive appraisal, emotions, and coping; and (2) associations between these characteristics and suicidal ideation.

METHOD: A total of 200 LGB young adults answered the "Stressful situation assessment questionnaire", focusing on the most stressful disclosure of sexual orientation they have ever experienced.

RESULTS: Avoidance coping is a good predictor of suicidal ideation, and mediates the association between primary appraisal (risk "Harm myself and others") and suicidal ideation.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study illustrates the need to better understand stress during the disclosure of sexual orientation to prevent and care for suicide risk among LGB young adults.

Language: en

Keywords

LGB young adults; disclosure of sexual orientation; stress; suicide