Suicidality Among Gay and Bisexual Men in Taiwan: Its Relationships with Sexuality and Gender Role Characteristics, Homophobic Bullying Victimization, and Social Support

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the associations of suicidality in emerging adulthood with time of coming out, gender role nonconformity, sexual orientation, traditional and cyber homophobic bullying victimization, and family and peer support during childhood in gay and bisexual men in Taiwan. The frequency of “experiencing suicide ideation” and “attempting suicide” in the past year among 500 gay or bisexual men was examined. The participants’ time of coming out, level of subjective masculinity, sexual orientation, experiences of traditional and cyber homophobic bullying victimization, and levels of family and peer support during childhood were also evaluated. In total, 31% (n = 155) of participants reported experiencing suicide ideation (n = 82) or attempting suicide (n = 73). Early coming out, traditional homophobic bullying victimization, and low family support during childhood increased the risk of suicidality in emerging adulthood; by contrast, family support did not moderate the association of early coming out or traditional bullying victimization with current suicidality. A high proportion of participants reported experiencing suicide ideation and attempt in emerging adulthood. Hence, effective suicide prevention is required for gay and bisexual men. Suicide prevention programs should consider time of coming out, traditional homophobic bullying victimization, and level of family support.

Predicting Effects of Psychological Inflexibility/Experiential Avoidance and Stress Coping Strategies for Internet Addiction, Significant Depression, and Suicidality in College Students: A Prospective Study

“…To evaluate the occurrence of suicidal attempt and four forms of suicidal ideation in the preceding year, participants were invited to complete a questionnaire containing the following questions from the epidemiological version of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (Kiddie-SADS-E) [ 42 ]: (1) “Has there ever been a period of 2 weeks or longer when you thought a lot about death, including thoughts of your own death, somebody else’s death, or death in general?” (2) “Has there ever been a period of 2 weeks or longer when you had a desire to die?” (3) “Have you ever thought of attempting suicide?” (4) “Have you had a suicidal plan?” and (5) “Have you ever attempted suicide?” Although the original questionnaire was developed for measuring suicidality among children and adolescents, these questions for suicidality are not restricted to any one specific age group. Moreover, it has been used to assess suicidality among young adult gay and bisexual men in Taiwan [ 43 ]. Each question elicited a “yes” (scoring 1) or “no” (scoring 0) answer.…”

The Influence of Internalized Homophobia on Health-Related Quality of Life and Life Satisfaction Among Gay and Bisexual Men in China

“…Furthermore, numerous studies have reported that sociodemographic (e.g., sexual orientation, sex role, education, income, religion, and race), psychological (e.g., gender role, self-esteem, social support, and violence), and social/cultural variables (discrimination, prejudice, and piety) are closely related to sexual minorities’ health status and life satisfaction (Lazarevic, Holman, Oswald, & Kramer, 2015; Lo, Kim, Small, & Chan, 2019; Mendoza-Perez & Ortiz-Hernandez, 2019; Meyer, 2003; Perales, 2018; Pollitt, Mallory, & Fish, 2018; Powdthavee & Wooden, 2015; Shangani, Gamarel, Ogunbajo, Cai, & Operario, 2019; Starr & Zurbriggen, 2017; Steward, Miege, & Choi, 2013; Wang et al, 2019). In particular, bisexuals are at double the risk of experiencing prejudices from both homosexuals and heterosexuals and have a higher likelihood to develop health problems than homosexuals and heterosexuals do (Balsam & Mohr, 2007).…”

Experienced Homophobia and Suicide Among Young Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Men in Singapore: Exploring the Mediating Role of Depression Severity, Self-Esteem, and Outness in the Pink Carpet Y Cohort Study

“… 7 Another recent study among gay and bisexual men in Taiwan found that 31.0% of respondents reported suicidal ideation in the preceding year. 16 There might be reasons to believe that the less favorable sociolegal climate in Singapore, compared with other Asian counterparts such as Hong Kong or Taiwan, might give rise to greater levels of homophobia and thus suicide-related behaviors. However, given that our survey measured lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, we do not have sufficient evidence to determine if GBTQ men in Singapore are at greater risk of suicide than their counterparts in other Asian countries, and further research is warranted.…”

“…14 Furthermore, a history of peer victimization, homophobic bullying, or having experienced sexual violence have been found to be associated with both suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among LGBTQ youth in a variety of settings. 9,10,15 With regard to social contexts, a study in Taiwan found that low levels of family support during childhood were associated with recent suicidality, or any suicidal ideation or attempted suicide, among gay and bisexual men, 16 whereas another study in the United States found that higher levels of school belonging were associated with lower levels of suicidal ideation among LGBTQ youth. 17 Some studies have noted that there are different risk factors for suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.…”