Introduction
Same-sex attracted (SSA) or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Gender diverse (LGBTQ+) youth are at heightened risk for suicidality. Stigma from the school context, is known to contribute to suicidality in this population. The current study assessed the rates of suicidal ideation of Dutch SSA/LGBTQ+ students (age 12-16), and the moderating effects of LGBTQ+ school and class climate.
Methods
Digital surveys were collected from students in 48 classes in 12 schools. From 892 students, 141 students (16%) self-identified as SSA/LGBTQ+(73% SSA, 27% Transgender/Genderdiverse; M age = 13.7). Items included the following statement: “My school is a safe place for students who are LGBT or who are questioning this” (1= fully agree to 5 fully disagree (ibid for “class safety”). Suicidality was examined by asking: “Have you ever seriously considered suicide in your life?” (1= no, never to 5 = very often), and by asking “Have you seriously considered suicide in the past 4 weeks? (1= no, never to 5 =very often). Data was analyzed with descriptive statistics and multiple regression in MLwiN (3.10).
Results
Among SSA and/or LGBTQ+ students, 66%reported to have ever seriously thought of suicide, as opposed to 20% of heterosexual or cisgender identified students. In addition, 43% of SSA and/or LGBTQ+ students had seriously thought of suicide in the past 4 weeks, versus 8%of heterosexual/cisgender identified students. Moderation analyses demonstrated that the degree of perceived LGBTQ+ school and LGBTQ+ class safety moderated the relationship between identifying as SSA/LGBTQ+ and both life time and past 4 weeks levels of suicidal ideation. More positive LGQTB+ school and class climates were associated with lower levels of suicidality.
Discussion and implications for practice
SSA/LGBTQIA+ students in the Netherlands experience substantial disparities in suicidal thoughts despite living in a country with general high acceptance rates of sexual and gender diversity. Findings underpin the importance of establishing safe LGBTQ+ school and class environments for reducing the burden of suicidality among SSA/ LGBTQ+ students. Considering that Dutch schools are obliged by law to teach students to respect sexual and gender diversity, we will discuss components and preconditions of a curriculum based LGBTQ+ classroom intervention that we recently developed. In this intervention, literature with LGBTQ+ main characters and class discussions are used to increase LGBTQ empathy.