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Suicide and self-harm prevention and intervention in LGBTQIA+ youth: Current research and future directions (IN: Youth Suicide Prevention and Intervention, edited by J.P. Ackerman & L.M. Horowitz)
Rubin, A., Smith, D.M.Y., Lawson, W.C., & Fox, K.R.
Youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning their sexual identities (LGBQ+) and/or who are a gender distinct from their birth-assigned sex (i.e., trans
gender and gender diverse), collectively LGBTQIA+, show nearly triple the risk for self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs), including nonsuicidal self-injury, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts (Marshal et al., 2011). Unfortunately, few studies to date have rigorously tested SITB treatments in LGBTQIA+ youth. In a recent meta-analysis of all randomized controlled trials of SITB interventions, only 60/642 treatment studies reported on the LGBTQIA+ composition of the sample, and no study specifically focused on treatment for LGBTQIA+ youth or adults (Fox et al., 2020). It remains unclear if treatments designed for cisgender, heterosexual youth are similarly efficacious for LGBTQIA+ youth and regardless whether they are sufficient to reduce this heightened risk.