269911 Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Behavior among Bullied Sexual Minority Youth in High School: Lutterman student award lecture

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 : 8:30 AM - 8:50 AM

Jeffrey Duong, MHS , Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Catherine Bradshaw, PhD , Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Objectives. To assess the association between experiencing bullying and depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior among sexual minority youth and to determine whether grade level moderated these associations.

Methods. We examined data from the 2009 New York City (NYC) Youth Risk Behavior Survey of roughly 10,000 students from 105 public high schools. Students voluntarily completed a self-administered, anonymous, 99-item questionnaire, which included items asking them about their bullying experiences (e.g., school and cyber), depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviors. The data were weighted to represent all students in grades 9-12 in NYC. Our analytic sample comprised 951 LGB students (8.9% of total respondents). We computed the prevalences of having depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts in the past 12-months. We then used multiple logistic regression to determine whether high school grade level (e.g., 9th/10th grades [underclassmen] versus 11th/12th grades [upperclassmen]) moderated the association between experiencing bullying and depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviors.

Results. Experiencing school and cyber bullying were significantly associated with depressive symptoms (OR=3.69; 95% CI=1.52, 8.99), suicide ideation (OR=5.97; 95% CI=2.68, 13.28), and attempting suicide (OR=5.10; 95% CI=2.04, 12.76). High school grade level moderated the associations between experiencing bullying, depressive symptoms and attempting suicide. Among underclassmen, experiencing bullying was associated with depressive symptoms (OR=7.25; 95% CI=2.32, 22.69) and attempting suicide (OR=7.25; 95% CI=2.99, 17.56). However, these associations were not significant among upperclassmen.

Conclusions. Younger sexual minority youth are particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences of bullying. More interventions reducing the impact of bullying for these individuals will be needed.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Epidemiology
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1.) To assess the association between experiencing bullying and depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior (e.g., ideations and attempts) among sexual minority youth in high school. 2.) To determine whether high school grade level (e.g., 9th/10th grades vs. 11th/12th grades) moderated the association between experiencing bullying and depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior among sexual minority youth.

Keywords: Child/Adolescent Mental Health, Suicide

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I conceptualized and performed the analysis of the data, and am the primary author for reporting the findings of the study. I am also involved in several studies related to bullying among sexual minority youth.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.