TABLE 1.
Summarizes the findings of several academic trials and their connection with the mental health impacts on LGBT students in review.
| Authors/Studies | Year | Country | Methods | Sample/Participant | Prevalence | Major psychological impact |
| Grossman et al. (2009) | 2009 | United States | Grounded theory |
n = 31 Age: 15–19 Gender: Male (n = 19, 61%), Female (n = 12, 39%) Sexual orientation: Lesbian (n = 6, 19.4%) Bisexual (n = 12, 38.7%) Gay (n = 8, 25.8%) Male-to-female transgender (n = 5, 16.1%) |
Two themes generated: 1. Lack of community 2. Lack of empowerment with a concurrent lack of a sense of human agency in school | 1. No sense of being apart in school 2. No sense of being a human agency in school |
| Walls et al. (2019) | 2013 | United States | Survey | n = 7261 Age: 13–21 (Mean age = 16.3) Gender: Male (n = 1930, 33.7%), Female (n = 3263, 56.9%), Transgender (n = 314, 5.5%), Others (n = 223, 3.9%) Sexual orientation: Not mentioned | 1. Victimization related to sexual orientation & gender expression: Physical harassment was highly correlated with verbal harassment (r = 0.62 for both types) and physical assault (r’s = 0.72 and 0.71, respectively) 2. Structural equation modeling showed that victimization contributed to lower academic outcomes and lower self-esteem | 1. Lower academic outcomes 2. Lower self-esteem |
| Van Bergen et al. (2013) | 2013 | Netherlands | Survey | n = 274 Age (Mean ± SD): 16.77 ± 0.80 Gender: Male (n = 106, 38.7%), Female (n = 168, 61.3%), Sexual orientation: Not mentioned | 1. Suicidal ideation (63.9%) A significant association with victimization at school (Adjusted OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 10.6, 2.6) 2. Suicidal attempt (12.8%) victimization at school (Adjusted OR = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.08–3.62) | 1. Suicidal ideation 2. Suicidal attempt |
| Proulx et al. (2019) | 2019 | United States | Survey |
n = 50,072 Age: High school students in Grades 9–12 Gender: Not mentionedSexual orientation: Bisexual (n = 3372, 6.7%) Gay/lesbian (n = 1259, 2.5%) Heterosexual (n = 43331, 86.5%) Not sure (n = 2110, 4.3%) |
1. Bisexual youth reported the highest frequency of past-year depressive symptoms (62.8%), suicidalthoughts (44.6%), and making a suicide plan (39.3%). 2. Gay/lesbian youth reported the highest frequency of bullying victimizationon school property (34.2%) | 1. Depressive symptoms2. Suicidal ideation 3. Suicidal plan 4. Bullying |
| Walls et al. (2019) | 2019 | Colorado, United States | Survey | n = 9,352 Age: 15.8 (mean) Gender: Male (n = 4486, 48%), Female (n = 4866, 52%) Sexual orientation: Bisexual (n = 704, 7.5%) Gay/Lesbian (n = 164, 1.8%) Hetersexual (n = 8,161, 87%) Not sure (n = 323, 3.7%) | 1. Depressive symptoms (n = 3,077, 33%) 2. Suicidal attempt (one attempt: n = 497, 5.3%; two or more attempts: n = 506, 5.4%) 3. School bullying (n = 2,087, 22.3%) 4. Online bullying (n = 7,655, 18.2%) | 1. Depressive symptoms 2. Suicidal attempt 3. Bullying |
| Wilson and Cariola (2020) | 2019 | China | Online survey |
n = 732 Age: 20.3–20.9 Gender: Male (n = 512, 69.9%), Female (n = 174, 23.8%), Transgender (n = 46, 6.3%) Sexual Orientation: Bisexual (n = 126, 17.2%) Gay (n = 441, 60.2%) Lesbian (n = 123, 16.8%) Not sure (n = 42, 5.7%) |
1. Disagreed or strongly disagreed that LGBTQ students are treated with as much respect as other students (n = 234, 32.9%) 2. Suicidal thoughts (n = 293, 40%) 3. Depressive symptoms (n = 622, 85%) | 1. Depressive symptoms 2. Suicidal ideation 3. Not being respected |
| Hackman et al. (2020) | 2020 | United States | Qualitative | n = 20 Age: 18–25 Gender: Male (n = 7, 35%), Female (n = 11, 55%), Transgender female (n = 2, 10%) Sexual orientation: Bisexual (n = 5, 25%) Gay (n = 5, 25%) Lesbian (n = 3, 15%) Queer (n = 3, 15%) Asexual and bisexual (n = 1, 5%) Pansexual (n = 1, 5%) Homoflexible cupiosexual (n = 1, 5%) | Six major themes identified: 1. Interpersonal concerns about disclosure 2. Consequences of sexual assault 3. Hesitance to engage with institutions following sexual assault 4. Sense of LGBTQ+ Community 5. Cisheteronormativity 6. Changes to improve institutional support | 1. Feeling of being isolated 2. Negative coping 3. Self-blame |
| Ybarra et al. (2015) | 2015 | United States | Online survey | n = 5542 Age: 13–18 Gender: Male (n = 2260, 40.8%), Female (n = 2840, 51.3%), Transgender/gender non-conforming (n = 442, 7.9%) Sexual orientation: Bisexual (n = 655, 11.8%) Gay, Lesbian, and Queer (n = 1282, 23.1%) Questioning, unsure, and others (n = 225, 4.1%)Heterosexual (n = 3380, 61%) | 1. Suicidal thought 39% bisexual; 31% gay, lesbian, 24% questioning/not sure of their sexual identity; 10% heterosexual [p < 0.001] 2. Victims of bullying were five times more likely (OR = 5.61, 95 % CI = 4.11, 7.64) and victims of peer harassment were two times more likely (OR = 2.06, 95 % CI = 1.53, 2.79) than non-victimized youth to report recent suicidal ideation | 1. Suicidal ideation 2. Bullying 3. Peer harassment |