LGBTQ+ youth have hope for their futures, but queer youth of color seemingly have less faith than their white peers.
The majority of young LGBTQ+ people (58 percent) reported believing there is a high chance they will live to age 35, while just over one-third (34 percent) believed their chances are low, according to a new survey from the Trevor Project of 28,524 LGBTQ+ young people ages 13-24.
This is due to a number of factors, explains Steven Hobaica, a research scientist at the Trevor Project who holds a doctorate in clinical psychology. That includes strong social networks, access to health care, and “life purpose.”
“LGBTQ+ young people who believed they had a high chance of living past 35 were also more likely to report having high levels of life purpose, which shows us that developing one’s life purpose may be crucial in suicide prevention,” he told The Advocate via email.
“Additionally, it is possible that these youth with high levels of life purpose may have had access to more protective factors that encouraged the development of their life purpose, such as accepting and supportive parents, friends, and teachers, access to affirming schools or communities, or access to needed health care including LGBTQ+ affirming therapy or gender-affirming care.”
While the majority of LGBTQ+ youth reported some sense of optimism, one-third responding negatively is still a troublesome trend. Additionally, LGBTQ+ young people’s expectations shift across demographics. Those ages 13 to 17, transgender and nonbinary youth, youth of color, and multisexual youth (e.g., bisexual, pansexual, queer) were all more likely to report mental health and life expectancy concerns than their peers.
“We found that white LGBTQ+ young people were more likely to endorse a higher chance of living past 35 compared to their peers of color, possibly due to generally having less stressful life experiences,” Hobaica explains. “It is well documented that youth who hold multiple marginalized identities, such as LGBTQ+ youth of color, report higher rates of both stressful life events and mental health problems than their White LGBTQ+ peers, which may help explain these findings.”
Read more at Advocate.com.
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