Gay or Straight, Youths Aren’t So Different

[davidinalameda]

This fall, when an 18-year-old Rutgers student killed himself after a live video showing him having intimate relations with another young man was transmitted on the Internet, public attention once again focused on the risk of suicide among gay teenagers.

That risk is hard to measure, in part because so much research has focused on clinical populations — people who sought help or acted out because they were troubled, had attempted suicide or professed suicidal tendencies. That tends to skew the results, suggesting that gay teenagers on average are more prone to suicide and mental illness than they really are.

The good news is that recent research finds more similarities than differences among gay and straight adolescents. For example, studies in Salt Lake City by Lisa Diamond, an associate professor of psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah, found that young gays had as many friends and were just as popular and socially connected as other teenagers.

The composition of their friendships is somewhat different, she noted. Gay teenagers tend to go out of their way to befriend youths of other races or those who are stigmatized for their looks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/health/04brody.html?_r=2&ref=health

[iris27]

1. LOL...well, yeah...

"The composition of their friendships is somewhat different, she noted. Gay teenagers tend to go out of their way to befriend youths of other races or those who are stigmatized for their looks."

Especially if you're attending a private fundy Christian school. I'm bi, my best HS friend was gay, and together we kinda presided over the "misfit" clique at our school. Nerds, goths, the occasional burnout, basically anyone who was shunned by most. Guess what? There were sure more of us than the popular kids. :)

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. It's a pretty nutty article.

To begin with, what does this paragraph mean?

>>>That risk is hard to measure, in part because so much research has focused on clinical populations — people who sought help or acted out because they were troubled, had attempted suicide or professed suicidal tendencies. That tends to skew the results, suggesting that gay teenagers on average are more prone to suicide and mental illness than they really are.>>>>

Errrhhh.... wha? Maybe it's me: is he saying that suicide rates among gay kids might be inflated 'cause suicides stats come from clinical populations where gay kids are overrepresented in the sample population? But since gay kids are basically OK..... basically the premise of the article on the whole.... what are they doing in mental health clinics in numbers disproportionate to their actual numbers in the general population?

I don't get it. Someone break it down for me.

[beyurslf]

3. I think what it means, without saying it, is that gay teens

are more likely to be involved with clinical services or therapy. It could just mean parents put their kids in therapy when they find out they are questioning.

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. So the parents are hysterical but the kids are fine.

OK... a bit of a stretch... since parents shape us psychologically more than any other single factor. But I've known people who were basically pretty well adjusted but whose parents insisted they get therapy anyway due to their own mishigas; so ok.... lets grant this possibility for the sake of argument.

next segment:

>>>>I’m concerned about the message being given to gay youth by adults who say they are destined to be depressed, abuse drugs or perhaps commit suicide,” Ritch C. Savin-Williams, a professor of developmental psychology who is director of Cornell’s Sex and Gender Lab, said at a recent news briefing. “I believe the message may create more suicides, more depression and more substance abuse. I worry about suicide contagion. About 10 to 15 percent are fragile gay kids, and they’re susceptible to messages of gay-youth suicide.”>>>>>>

A lot of us were concerned about suicide contagion.... we mostly called it the copycat effect.... last fall when there was a rash of media attention to a rash of suicides among young glbt people. I'm pretty sure that was posted about and discussed right here: the paradox of the good that could be accomplished by shining a light on this tragic phenomenon vs. the risk that some kids might be inspired ... by the very same info ... to throw in the towel. The Dr. is merely reiterating a concern that is already widespread and familiar. While the Dr.'s concern is completely understandable, he brings nothing at all new to the table, as far as this aspect is concerned..

What is more, just wishing doesn't make it so. Either it is true that glbt kids are at higher risk or it is not true. If it's true.... and that inspires some kids to kill themselves... it is therefore no less true. Is the Dr. dealing with reality as we know it to be or with a non-reality that he wishes ( and I wish) were actually the case?

next segment:

>>>>In an interview, Dr. Savin-Williams said: “We hear only the negative aspects from research. We don’t hear about normal gay teens. It’s hard to get studies published when researchers don’t find differences. A large number of studies found no group differences between gay and straight youth, but these have not been published.”>>>>>>>>

OK, I get it. It's a conspiracy. But a conspiracy of......? Against........?

[closeupready]

5. I'm glad that things are changing, because it sure wasn't like this when I was young.

Openly gay kids were ostracized and villified. This did lead to substance abuse, alcoholism, dropping out and even suicide.