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Minority Stress, Distress, and Suicide Attempts in Three Cohorts of Sexual Minority Adults

A U.S. probability sample
April 2021
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Using data from the Generations Study, this report examines a representative sample of LGBQ people in the U.S. from three age groups—young (18-25), middle (34-41), and older (52-59)—to assess how stress, identity, and connectedness with the LGBT community differ among generations. It appeared in PLOS ONE in March 2021.

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Highlights
Young LGBQ people experience high or the highest levels of everyday discrimination, psychological distress, and internalized homophobia.
Younger LGBQ adults showed more extreme experiences of victimization in a shorter span of time than the middle and older cohorts.
Young LGBQ people reported the highest levels of connection to the LGBT community and identification with their sexual identity.
Data Points
10%
of young LGBQ adults identify as gender nonbinary
4%
of the older cohorts identify as nonbinary
30%
of young LGBQ adults reported at least one suicide attempt in their lifetimes
21%
of the older cohort reported attempting suicide at some point
24%
of LGBQ people in the middle age cohort reported attempting suicide in their lifetimes
21%
of the older cohort reported the same
37%
of young LGBQ adults experienced being physically or sexually assaulted
46%
had someone threaten them with violence
14
age young LGBQ people identified as LGBQ
16
age the middle cohort identified as LGBQ
18
age the oldest cohort identified as LGBQ

Read the open-access journal article

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Minority Stress, Distress, and Suicide Attempts in Three Cohorts of Sexual Minority Adults
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