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Pathways to Suicide in Lesbian and Gay Populations in Australia: A Life Chart Analysis

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Abstract

Given the continued paucity of research into suicide in lesbian and gay (LG) people, there is a need to investigate the characteristics of those LG suicides that are able to be identified. The aim of this article was to analyze pathways to suicide in lesbian and gay individuals by way of life charts. Data were gathered through of 24 psychological autopsy interviews with next-of-kin of an LG person who had died by suicide. The female (n = 5) and male (n = 19) cases in this study clustered into younger and older suicides. The defining feature of the younger suicides was lack of acceptance by family and, to a lesser extent, self, and that of the older suicides was romantic relationship conflict, although this was also common in younger suicides. There appears to have been, furthermore, an accumulation of risk factors, particularly in the period prior to death where these specific risk factors combined with other life stressors, such as work problems. Initiatives to reduce stigma around diversity in sexuality and to support families and young people through the “coming out” process as well as services designed to assist those experiencing problems in same-sex relationships, in particular, would appear to be the most relevant within the trajectories presented.

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Notes

  1. The PA consisted of the following sections: demographic questions, sexuality and gender profile, history of suicide attempts and exposure to suicidal behaviors in others, an aggressive behavior inventory, history of physical and mental health problems, details of bullying and victimization experienced, Paykel Interview for Recent Life Events (Paykel, 1997), Internalized Shame Scale (Cook, 1988), internalized homo/transphobia scale (Szymanski & Chung, 2001), the Australian Personality Inventory (Murray et al., 2009), the Bille-Brahe Social Support Scale (Bille-Brahe & Jensen, 2004), details of hobbies and friendships, and the Mini International Psychiatric Interview (MINI) (Sheehan et al., 1998). Suicide has been found to be multifaceted phenomenon (e.g., De Leo et al., 2013), and hence the importance in a PA of exploring an array of possible predictive factors, including physical and mental health, personality factors, and social support, as well as life events.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the individuals who took part in this research for giving up their time and for sharing the stories about their loved ones.

Funding

This research was funded by beyondblue (Project Code CB: 6723).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Delaney M. Skerrett, Kairi Kõlves & Diego De Leo

  2. PO Box 10278, Adelaide Street, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia

    Delaney M. Skerrett

Authors
  1. Delaney M. Skerrett
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  2. Kairi Kõlves
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  3. Diego De Leo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Delaney M. Skerrett.

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Ethical Standards

The protocol for this research project was approved by the Griffith University Human Research Ethics Committee (CSR/01/13/HREC).

Human and Animal Rights

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

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Skerrett, D.M., Kõlves, K. & De Leo, D. Pathways to Suicide in Lesbian and Gay Populations in Australia: A Life Chart Analysis. Arch Sex Behav 46, 1481–1489 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0827-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0827-y

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