TABLE 3. Percentage of high school students who had seriously considered attempting suicide, had made a suicide plan, had attempted suicide, or had made a suicide attempt requiring medical treatment during the 12 months before the survey, by sex, sexual identity, and sex of sexual contacts — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2019.
| Behavior | Female % (95% CI) |
Chi-square (p value) |
Male % (95% CI) |
Chi-square (p value) |
Total % (95% CI) |
Chi-square (p value) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Seriously considered attempting suicide
| ||||||
| Sexual identity |
— |
75.728 (<0.001) |
— |
22.231 (<0.001) |
— |
88.194 (<0.001) |
| Heterosexual |
18.0 (16.3‒20.0) |
—* |
11.4 (10.4‒12.6) |
— |
14.5 (13.4‒15.7) |
— |
| LGB |
49.0 (44.8‒53.3) |
— |
40.4 (33.9‒47.1) |
— |
46.8 (43.1‒50.6) |
— |
| Not sure |
35.9 (29.5‒42.9) |
— |
21.7 (14.8‒30.5) |
— |
30.4 (25.4‒35.9) |
— |
| Sex of sexual contacts |
— |
64.007 (<0.001) |
— |
13.972 (<0.001) |
— |
66.938 (<0.001) |
| Opposite sex only |
25.3 (22.8‒28.0) |
— |
14.6 (12.9‒16.5) |
— |
19.4 (17.6‒21.4) |
— |
| Same sex only or both sexes |
59.2 (52.5‒65.6) |
— |
39.1 (29.3‒49.9) |
— |
54.2 (49.0‒59.3) |
— |
| No sexual contact |
16.2 (14.2‒18.3) |
— |
9.7 (8.1‒11.7) |
— |
13.0 (11.8‒14.3) |
— |
|
Made a suicide plan
| ||||||
| Sexual identity |
— |
66.568 (<0.001) |
— |
19.732 (<0.001) |
— |
90.368 (<0.001) |
| Heterosexual |
14.6 (13.2‒16.0) |
— |
9.9 (8.9‒11.0) |
— |
12.1 (11.1‒13.1) |
— |
| LGB |
42.4 (38.4‒46.4) |
— |
33.0 (26.4‒40.3) |
— |
40.2 (36.6‒44.0) |
— |
| Not sure |
28.1 (22.1‒35.0) |
— |
17.4 (11.8‒24.8) |
— |
23.9 (19.4‒29.0) |
— |
| Sex of sexual contacts |
— |
56.442 (<0.001) |
— |
18.435 (<0.001) |
— |
62.470 (< 0.001) |
| Opposite sex only |
20.7 (18.4‒23.3) |
— |
12.9 (11.5‒14.6) |
— |
16.5 (14.9‒18.1) |
— |
| Same sex only or both sexes |
48.2 (42.8‒53.6) |
— |
31.2 (23.8‒39.7) |
— |
44.0 (39.7‒48.4) |
— |
| No sexual contact |
13.8 (12.3‒15.6) |
— |
7.9 (6.7‒9.4) |
— |
10.9 (9.8‒12.1) |
— |
|
Attempted suicide
| ||||||
| Sexual identity |
— |
26.919 (<0.001) |
— |
15.972 (<0.001) |
— |
40.352 (<0.001) |
| Heterosexual |
7.9 (6.6‒9.4) |
— |
5.1 (4.2‒6.3) |
— |
6.4 (5.6‒7.4) |
— |
| LGB |
23.6 (20.0‒27.6) |
— |
23.8 (17.8‒31.1) |
— |
23.4 (20.0‒27.1) |
— |
| Not sure |
15.2 (9.6‒23.3) |
— |
16.4 (9.9‒26.0) |
— |
16.1 (11.1‒22.8) |
— |
| Sex of sexual contacts |
— |
58.123 (<0.001) |
— |
12.379 (<0.001) |
— |
66.202 (<0.001) |
| Opposite sex only |
11.4 (9.5‒13.5) |
— |
7.5 (5.8‒9.6) |
— |
9.3 (7.9‒10.8) |
— |
| Same sex only or both sexes |
31.4 (27.0‒36.1) |
— |
26.5 (17.5‒38.0) |
— |
30.3 (25.9‒35.0) |
— |
| No sexual contact |
6.1 (4.8‒7.8) |
— |
3.5 (2.6‒4.8) |
— |
4.8 (4.0‒5.8) |
— |
|
Made a suicide attempt requiring medical treatment†
| ||||||
| Sexual identity |
— |
7.893 (0.001) |
— |
5.592 (0.008) |
— |
13.034 (<0.001) |
| Heterosexual |
2.3 (1.6‒3.2) |
— |
1.3 (0.9‒1.9) |
— |
1.7 (1.4‒2.2) |
— |
| LGB |
6.6 (5.0‒8.7) |
— |
5.9 (3.2‒10.6) |
— |
6.3 (4.8‒8.3) |
— |
| Not sure |
3.8 (1.6‒8.4) |
— |
7.6 (3.6‒15.2) |
— |
5.2 (3.0‒9.0) |
— |
| Sex of sexual contacts |
— |
14.728 (<0.001) |
— |
10.517 (<0.001) |
— |
23.046 (<0.001) |
| Opposite sex only |
3.4 (2.4‒4.8) |
— |
1.9 (1.3‒2.9) |
— |
2.6 (2.0‒3.3) |
— |
| Same sex only or both sexes |
10.4 (7.5‒14.2) |
— |
9.4 (4.9‒17.6) |
— |
10.2 (7.6‒13.4) |
— |
| No sexual contact | 1.4 (0.8‒2.4) | — | 0.5 (0.3‒1.1) | — | 1.0 (0.6‒1.5) | — |
Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval; LGB = lesbian, gay, or bisexual.
*Not applicable.
† Made a suicide attempt that resulted in an injury, poisoning, or overdose that had to be treated by a doctor or nurse.