Increasing LGBQ identification may contribute to surge in suicide among high school girls

Key takeaways:

• High school girls who identified as LGBQ rose from 15% to 34% from 2015 to 2021.
• This rise aligns with greater increases in suicidality among girls, showing a need to address pressures that LGBQ youths face.

Approximately one-third of high school girls surveyed in the United States in 2021 identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning their sexuality, according to results of a cohort study published in Educational Researcher.

It’s a dramatic and significant increase from previous polling just 2 years earlier that showed 22% of high school aged girls identifying as LGBQ. This shift is occurring alongside increases in suicidal thoughts, planning and attempts among women, with significant upticks among those identifying as LGBQ, researchers reported.

The results come after 10% of high schoolers attempted suicide in 2023.

“Physicians should be aware that the parallel trends of suicidality among adolescent girls and LGBTQ+ adolescents appear to be related,” Mollie T. McQuillan, PhD, an assistant professor in educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Healio. “It is crucial for physicians to continue educating themselves about gender and sexual orientation to provide affirming care.”

McQuillan and Joseph R. Cimpian, PhD, a professor of economics and education policy at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, highlighted CDC data that showed three in 10 girls seriously considered suicide in 2021, while 25% made a suicide plan.

The two researchers assessed whether rises in suicidality among high school students may be tied to increasing LGBQ identity and subsequent social pressures by analyzing data taken from the 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys.

The four study cohorts included 22,562 girls and 22,130 boys.

McQuillan and Cimpian found that the percentage of girls who identified as LGBQ rose from 15% in 2015 to 34% in 2021. LGBQ identification among boys, meanwhile, increased from 6% to 9% during the study period.

A greater increase in suicidality also occurred among girls compared with boys. Specifically, the percentage of girls who considered suicide rose from 23% to 29% from 2015 to 2019.

Additionally, 23% of girls made a suicide plan in 2019, representing a significant increase from 2015 and 2017.

Girls who identified as LGBQ reported substantially higher suicidal ideation rates vs. heterosexual females, but there were no notable year-over-year increases or decreases seen.

Boys identifying as LGBQ also experienced greater rates of suicide ideation, planning and attempts vs. their heterosexual peers, “but no significant changes were noted across the years,” McQuillan and Cimpian wrote.

They suggested some reasons why more girls are identifying as LGBQ, such as a greater representation of diverse sexual orientations and more comfortability in disclosing LGBQ identification compared with prior generations.

“Not all LGBQ youth report higher rates of suicidality. Many LGBQ teens are thriving and living healthy lives,” McQuillan told Healio. “However, our results provide additional nuance to conversations about the complex landscape that many LGBQ youth now navigate. On one hand, many teens may feel more comfortable and safer exploring their identity. On the other hand, we continue to see LGBQ+ teens targeted by harmful anti-LGBQ policies, bullying and family rejection.”

Physicians “can also advocate for inclusive laws and policies, such as antidiscrimination and antibullying policies, and the continued collection of sexual orientation data on federally funded, large representative surveys,” she added.

“Promoting healthy and safe development for all adolescents necessitates reforming the sources of societal and interpersonal stress”.

References:

• Study links rising suicidality among teen girls to increase in identifying as LGBQ. Available at: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1070600. Published Jan. 16, 2025. Accessed Jan. 30, 2025.
• Cimpian J, McQuillan M. Educ Res. 2025;doi:10.3102/0013189X241305329.