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Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms and Suicidality Among Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Youth

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Abstract

Sexual minority youth report higher rates of depression and suicidality than do heterosexual youth. Little is known, however, about whether these disparities continue as youth transition into young adulthood. The primary goals of this study were to describe and compare trajectories of adolescent depressive symptoms and suicidality among sexual minority and heterosexual youth, examine differences in depressive symptoms and suicidality trajectories across sexual orientation subgroups, and determine whether there are gender differences in these longitudinal disparities. Four waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were analyzed using latent curve modeling (N = 12,379; 53 % female). Results showed that the rates of depressive symptoms and suicidality in early adolescence were higher among sexual minority youth than among heterosexual youth, and that these disparities persisted over time as participants transitioned into young adulthood. Consistent with previous cross-sectional studies, the observed longitudinal disparities were largest for females and for bisexually-identified youth. Sexual minority youth may benefit from childhood and early adolescent prevention and intervention programs.

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Acknowledgments

The production of this manuscript was supported by grants awarded to the first author from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (DA030385 and DA026312). We would like to thank Stephanie Miller for her help with manuscript preparation. This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by Grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from Grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.

Author contributions

MPM conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination and drafted the manuscript; SSD participated in the design of the study, conducted all of the analyses, drafted the Method and Results sections, JWC participated in the design of the study, supervised the data analysis and interpretation, and assisted with drafting the Results section, CMB participated in its design and coordination and helped to draft the manuscript, MSF, FA, and TH participated in the design of the study and assisted with drafting components of the Introduction and Discussion. All authors read, edited, and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Michael P. Marshal

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Sarah S. Dermody

  3. Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    JeeWon Cheong

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Chad M. Burton

  5. Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Mark S. Friedman

  6. College of Nursing-Health Systems Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Frances Aranda

  7. UIC National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Tonda L. Hughes

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  1. Michael P. Marshal
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  2. Sarah S. Dermody
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  3. JeeWon Cheong
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  4. Chad M. Burton
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  5. Mark S. Friedman
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  6. Frances Aranda
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  7. Tonda L. Hughes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael P. Marshal.

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Marshal, M.P., Dermody, S.S., Cheong, J. et al. Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms and Suicidality Among Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Youth. J Youth Adolescence 42, 1243–1256 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9970-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9970-0

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