Peer-reviewed article
Developmental Trajectories of Suicidality in Sexually Diverse and Heterosexual Adolescents: Findings From the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development: Trajectoires développementales de suicidalité chez les adolescents hétérosexuels et de la diversité sexuelle : Résultats de l'Étude longitudinale sur le développement des enfants du Québec.
Sasha MacNeil, Roxanne Sicotte, Camille Davisse-Paturet, Elise Chartrand, Em Alexander et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study tracked suicidal thoughts and attempts in sexually diverse and heterosexual adolescents in Quebec from ages 13 to 23. Sexually diverse adolescents showed higher rates of suicidality that increased steeply from ages 13 to 17, then declined but persisted through young adulthood. Girls assigned female at birth who were sexually diverse experienced particularly elevated suicidality compared to their heterosexual peers. The findings highlight the need for targeted suicide prevention interventions during adolescence for sexually diverse youth.
Key points
- 11.5% of the sample (173 participants, 60.5% female) reported sexually diverse attraction
- Sexually diverse adolescents showed a steeper increase in suicidality severity from ages 13 to 17 compared to heterosexual peers
- Disparities in suicidality between sexually diverse and heterosexual adolescents declined from ages 17 to 23 but persisted
- Sexually diverse females assigned at birth experienced the greatest suicidality severity during adolescence
- Elevated suicidality among sexually diverse adolescents continued into young adulthood
Limitations
The study is observational and cannot determine causality or establish why suicidality trajectories differ between groups. The findings are specific to Quebec and may not generalize to other populations or countries.
Abstract
IntroductionSexually diverse adolescents report higher suicidality (ideation and attempts) than their heterosexual peers, but information on the onset and course of suicidality from early adolescence to young adulthood among contemporary sexually diverse individuals remains limited. This study traces suicidality trajectories across this critical developmental period, comparing sexually diverse and heterosexual adolescents both overall and by sex assigned at birth.MethodsData was drawn from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, an ongoing population-based prospective birth cohort. This study included 1,505 participants who self-reported their sexual attraction at ages 15-17 (2013-2015) and past-year suicidal ideation and attempts using 3-items at ages 13, 15, 17 and 23 (2011-2021) from which a suicidality severity score was derived.Results11.5% of the sample (n = 173, 60.5% female) reported sexually diverse attraction. Growth curve modelling tested the random effect of sexually diverse (vs. heterosexual) attraction on suicidality severity intercept, linear and quadratic latent growth factors. Age-specific contrasts in suicidality severity between sexually diverse and heterosexual adolescents were also examined. Compared to heterosexual adolescents, sexually diverse adolescents showed a steeper increase in suicidality severity from ages 13 to 17, and declining yet persisting disparities from ages 17 to 23. Although developmental trajectories differed across sexually diverse males and females, both experienced greater suicidality severity during adolescence compared with heterosexual peers.DiscussionOur findings point to a developmental trajectory in which sexually diverse adolescents, particularly females assigned at birth, experience elevated suicidality that persists into young adulthood. Targeted and timely interventions during this critical developmental period are essential for suicide prevention.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Identification and monitoring of suicidality trajectories to inform targeted suicide prevention interventions (no specific intervention was tested)
- Population
- 1,505 adolescents from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, ages 13-23, with 11.5% reporting sexually diverse attraction
Key finding
Sexually diverse adolescents showed steeper increase in suicidality severity from ages 13 to 17
MacNeil et al. · PubMed (US National Library of Medicine) · 15 Apr 2026