Links between past abuse, suicide ideation, and sexual orientation among San Diego college students.
The authors explored relationships among childhood abuse, suicidal ideation, and sexual orientation of 18- to 30-year-old students enrolled in 2 San Diego area colleges, using responses from anonymous questionnaires. Sixty percent of the 138 eligible respondents were women, and 22% were self-identified gay/bisexual individuals. Women were more likely than men to report at least 1 form of emotional abuse (odds ratio [OR] = 2.3; p =.02) and unwanted sexual touching (OR = 4.3; p = .0004). Lesbian/bisexual women were significantly more likely to report past suicidal ideation than were heterosexual women (OR = 3.7, p = .03). Gay/bisexual men were more likely to report unwanted sexual touching than were heterosexual men (OR = 5.1, p = .04), but the men did not report significantly higher rates of past suicide ideation or suicide attempts. Sexual orientation and a past history of child sexual, physical, and emotional abuse could be compounding risk factors for suicidal ideation among college students.
Garcia
Jacob
J
University of California, San Diego, USA.
Adams
Joyce
J
Friedman
Lawrence
L
East
Patricia
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities