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Examining sexual violence and risky sexual behaviors as predictors of past year suicide attempts in a national sample of LGB adolescents

This study aims to assess the role of both sexual violence and risky sexual behaviors (RSB) as predictors of suicide attempts in a sample of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents. We used data from the 2019 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to examine whether the presence of a past year sexual assault and lifetime RSB (e.g., age of sexual onset; number of sexual partners) predicted past year suicide attempts in a sample of LGB adolescents endorsing past year suicidal ideation (N = 697). Using hierarchical logistic regression, we found that past year sexual assault significantly predicted past year suicide attempts (B = -.26, SE = .088, p = .003, OR = 1.302). No other significant effects were found (p > .128). Future research should employ more comprehensive methods of assessing for RSB, particularly within samples of sexual minority youth.