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/ Health News / 2007 / September 2007 / September 25, 2007 Being victimized for being gay increases suicidal behavior in college students |
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A new research suggests that victimization for sexual orientation among gay, lesbian and bisexual college students is a major risk factor for suicidal behavior.
Washington, Sept 25: A new research suggests that victimization for sexual orientation among gay, lesbian and bisexual college students is a major risk factor for suicidal behavior.
The study conducted by researcher Heather Murphy at the University of Washington found that the students who identified themselves as heterosexual reported being attracted to people of the same sex or engaging in same-sex behavior.
"A lot of people stop thinking about sexual orientation related victimization and suicide as a problem beyond the K-12 school years. But suicide doesn't stop after high school." Murphy said.
In the study, Murphy recruited 528 participants - 404 heterosexuals, 79 same-sex attracted heterosexuals, 38 gays, lesbians and bisexuals, and 7 who said they were not sure of their sexual identity. The students were ranged in age from 17 to 26, with a mean age of 19, and 63 percent of them were female.
Through the questionnaires it was discovered that gay, lesbian and bisexuals and the same-sex attracted heterosexuals experienced more verbal and physical victimization than heterosexual students.
Homophobic statements, hearing others talk about gays, lesbian and bisexuals in derogatory terms, and being harassed for their sexual orientation, included verbal victimization. Whereas, physical victimization included being physically threatened or assaulted and getting into fights.
"There is a lot of hype that gay kids are more suicidal, my study shows that this is not so. In my study, being victimized for being gay was the risk factor that increased suicidal- behavior risk," she said.
She said that the high suicidal-behavior rate among the same-sex attracted heterosexuals was a surprise.
According to Murphy, there are two possible explanations for high suicidal-behavior rate - one that these people are still in the process of determining their sexual identity and prior to the period of disclosing their preference they might engage in suicidal thinking.
"They are still trying to fit into the mainstream heterosexual society and are not willing to talk to friends or go to a queer center to talk about what they are experiencing," she said.
"The gay culture has a family feeling that is welcoming and shows pride. However, these students are not there yet so they may be feeling shame and homophobia," she added.
The other possibility according to Murphy can be that many bisexuals make their identification later in their 20s or even at the age of 19, and many students at this age might not yet be at the point of coming out.
ANI
