Suicide attempts spike among transgender, nonbinary youth after state-level restrictions

Key takeaways:

• Anti-transgender laws were tied to increases in rates of suicide attempts and attempting suicide at least once.
• The researchers said that access to gender-affirming care and resources could be “life-saving.”

Suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth increased significantly following the passage of state-level anti-transgender laws, study results in Nature Human Behavior suggested.

An analysis of cross-sectional national surveys revealed that suicide attempts increased anywhere from 7% to 72% in the year following the passage of laws aimed at restricting the rights of transgender and nonbinary youth and young adults.

“Seeing increases of this magnitude sends alarm bells ringing about the real-world impact anti-transgender policies are having on mental health,” Myeshia Price, PhD, an associate professor in human development at Indiana University, said in a press release. “The evidence is clear: we are witnessing a sharp, significant rise in suicide attempts among [transgender and nonbinary (TGNB)] young people in states enacting anti-transgender laws.”

LGBTQ+ communities already face significant mental health concerns, as established by several previous studies and reports. Data from a 2023 survey conducted by The Trevor Project showed that 41% of young LGBTQ+ people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, whereas one in three said their mental health was poor  because of anti-LGBTQ+ laws or legislation.

According to Price and colleagues, 48 anti-transgender laws were enacted across 19 different state governments between 2018 to 2022.

In the study the researchers assessed national survey data of 61,240 young TGNB people aged 13 to 24 years and used a difference-in-differences research design to determine links between anti-transgender laws and suicide risk.

In states that enacted anti-transgender laws, there were significant increases in rates of past-year suicide attempts among TGNB adolescents aged 13 to 17 years in the first year after the law was enacted.

This increase occurred among all young TGNB people 2 years after the law was enacted.

Similar findings were also seen for the likelihood of attempting suicide at least once.

The effects of anti-transgender laws were particularly impactful among youth. TGNB adolescents aged 13 to 17 years reported a 7% to 72% higher number of past-year suicide attempts in states enacting anti-transgender laws compared with a 38% to 44% increase in those aged 13 to 24 years.

Price and colleagues also found that TGNB adolescents aged 13 to 17 years reported a 33% to 49% high rate of at least one suicide attempt in the past year vs. a 25% to 27% increase among those aged 13 to 24 years.

They noted the findings are consistent with many anti-transgender laws targeting those aged younger than 18 years “and therefore limiting the ability of these young people to access gender-affirming care or facilities and participate in activities with their peers.”

TGNB youth may also have less connections to the LGBTQ+ community and require parents or guardians to access important resources, the researchers added.
They also found stronger evidence for the possibility that enactment of anti-transgender laws leads to young TGNB people who were previously considering suicide due to other stressors to ultimately attempt suicide, as opposed to the laws impacting self-reports of seriously considering suicide.

Price and colleagues acknowledged some study limitations. For example, they did not consider the possible protective effects of pro-transgender laws enacted during the same time, nor did they have the measurements needed to determine the relationship between community strength and TGNB mental health amid the laws being enacted.

They concluded that, based on the results, “we argue that increasing access to gender-affirming care, resources and facilities could be life-saving for TGNB people, especially TGNB minors.”

References:

• Lee W, et al. Nat Hum Behav. 2024;doi:10.1038/s41562-024-01979-5.
• New study links anti-transgender laws to sharp increases in suicide risk. Available at: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1059266. Published Sept. 26, 2024. Accessed Sept. 26, 2024.
• 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People. Available at: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2023/. Accessed Sept. 26, 2024.