From The Trevor Project, May 12, 2021
Summary
LGBTQ youth are at elevated risk for suicide compared with their straight/cisgender peers (Johns et al, 2019; Johns et al., 2020). This risk stems from experiences of minority stress including victimization and rejection rather than something inherent about being LGBTQ (Meyer, 2003). Victimization and rejection from caregivers can also result in LGBTQ youth involvement in the foster care system (Newcomb et al., 2019), which is strongly associated with greater suicide risk among youth in general (Brown, 2020). Despite the overrepresentation of LGBTQ youth among those who have entered foster care (Baams, Russel, & Wilson 2019), there remains a lack of studies examining which subgroups of LGBTQ youth are most at risk of being in foster care as well as how a foster care history relates to suicide risk among LGBTQ youth. Using data from The Trevor Project’s 2020 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, this brief focuses on foster care and suicide risk among LGBTQ youth.
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