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Adolescent suicide attempts decrease after passage of same-sex marriage laws

Recent findings suggest that implementation of same-sex marriage policies reduced suicide attempts among adolescent sexual minorities.

“Prior research suggests an association between same-sex marriage policies and mental health. Use of and expenditures on mental health care significantly decreased among men who have sex with men in the year following legalization of same-sex marriage relative to the year prior in Massachusetts. The effect was not dependent on partnership status, suggesting that same-sex marriage policies may have broad effects on the mental health of sexual minorities beyond the direct benefits of partnership or marriage,” Julia Raifman, ScD, postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote. “Hatzenbuehler and colleagues also found that psychiatric disorders increased among adults who were sexual minorities after same-sex marriage was banned in 16 states.”

To assess associations between state same-sex marriage policies and adolescent suicide attempts, researchers analyzed state-level data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System for 1999 through 2015. The cohort included 762,678 students with a mean age of 16 years.

Overall, 8.6% of all students and 28.5% of students who identified as sexual minorities reported suicide attempts before implementation of same-sex marriage policies.

Same-sex marriage policies were associated with a decrease in suicide attempts of 0.6 percentage points (95% CI, –1.2 to –0.01), indicating a 7% relative reduction in high school students attempting suicide due to same-sex marriage implementation.

“Although no single factor can fully explain a complex behavior, such as suicide, the study by Raifman and colleagues suggests that structural stigma — in the form of state laws — represents a potentially consequential but, thus far, largely overlooked contextual factor underlying suicidality in LGB youth,” Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, PhD, of Columbia University, wrote in an accompanying editorial. “The legal climate surrounding this population therefore deserves greater attention among medical professionals dedicated to reducing sexual orientation disparities in suicidality among adolescents.” – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.