The role of parental and friends’ support preventing suicide attempts among French sexual minority adolescents

This present study aimed to search for parental and friend support roles to prevent suicide attempts among adolescents who identify as lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) in France. Data were drawn from a French cross-sectional study entitled “Portrait d’Adolescents”. An anonymous self-questionnaire was fulfilled by 14,265 French adolescents (ages from 13 to 20) in 2013, and 637 (4.47%) were identified as LGB. Chi-square analysis was used to estimate statistical differences between self-reported suicide and non-suicide attempters in the whole sample and then in LGB and heterosexual subgroups separately. Multiple logistic regression analyses were then performed to examine the associations of self-reported suicide attempts (dependent variable) with the effects of parental and friend support and other factors based on the whole data and further on the data subsets among the LGB and the heterosexual subjects. Suicide attempt was independently associated with sexual orientation (30.7% vs 10.6%; OR=2.04 [1.62-2.56]; p<0.0001). Both parental and friend support appeared protective factors in the heterosexuals (OR=0.52 [0.45-0.60] and OR=0.75 [0.61-0.93]), whereas only parental support was significant in the LGB group (OR=0.51 [0.31-0.82]), independently of other variables. French adolescents who identify as LGB have a higher risk for suicidality than their heterosexual peers. Special attention needs to be given to this vulnerable population when developing suicide prevention programs. Parental support identified as an effective protective factor should be systematically searched to prevent suicidality among LGB.