Associations Between State Legislative Activity, Minority Stress, and Suicide Attempt Among Sexual Minority Adolescents

Abstract

This study assessed associations between state legislative activity, sexual minority adolescent minority stress, and suicide attempt. State-level sociopolitical climates are variably supportive and hostile toward sexual minority adolescents. This study, therefore, examined whether state sociopolitical climate is associated with sexual minority adolescent minority stress and, in turn, the risk of suicide attempt in this high-risk population. A nationwide sample of sexual minority adolescents (N= 2,558) responded to online surveys in 2018 and 2019 assessing minority stress and past-year suicide attempt. Legislative activity scores, that is, the number of anti- and pro-LGBTQ pieces of legislation proposed each year in each state, were accessed from the Human Rights Campaign State Equality Index, assigned to youth based on their state of residence, and used as an indicator of sociopolitical climate. We examined associations between legislative activity, minority stress, and suicide attempt using path analyses. Legislative activity is directly associated with sexual minority adolescent minority stress and indirectly associated with suicide attempt through minority stress among sexual minority adolescents. Amidst nationwide attacks on sexual minority adolescent health and well-being, study findings emphasize the associations between sociopolitical climate, minority stress exposure, and health.