Investigating Why Latter-day Saint Adolescents Are at Lower Risk for Suicidality: Comparing Across Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities.

W. Justin Dyer, Brigham Young University

Abstract. Previous research has identified Latter-day Saint adolescents at particularly low levels of suicidality compared to adolescents of other affiliations or no affiliation. However, specific pathways of effects remain uncertain. The current study used data from 46,823 Utah adolescents collected by the Utah Department of Health to examine mediators of the relationship between religious affiliation and suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and depression. The study also examined how these mediators differed across sexual orientations and gender identities. Compared to those of no religion, heterosexual Latter-day Saint and Catholic adolescents were less likely to use drugs or alcohol, which proved to be the most prominent protective factor across sexual orientations and gender identities, decreasing suicide attempts by more than 20%. Less family conflict was also a protective factor for Latter-day Saints and Catholics. For LGBQ adolescents, being Latter-day Saint was protective against suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and depression through less use of drugs or alcohol and less family conflict. Being Latter-day Saint or Catholic was also protective for LGBQ adolescents given their lower likelihood of being bullied (again compared to those of no religion).

Dyer, W. Justin. 2024. “Investigating Why Latter-day Saint Adoles- cents Are at Lower Risk for Suicidality: Comparing Across Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities,” Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association 2, no. 1: 109–116. https://doi.org/10.54587/JMSSA.0205