Suicide Acceptability and Sexual Orientation: Results from the General Social Survey 2008-2014

Exploring Religion as a Path to Meaning: The Role of "Pastrotherapy" in Supporting Young People's Quest for a Good Life in Nigeria

This paper examines suicide prevalence among Nigerian youth struggling to find meaning in life. Frustrated by unattainable ideals, they experience despair. The study explores religion's role in providing support for meaning-seeking individuals. Utilizing an explorative approach, the paper highlights how religion can play a role in offering solidarity, morality, and hope as vital resources for creating a meaningful life. It introduces "Pastrotherapy" as a pastoral care approach to addressing existential questions. Findings emphasize the importance of religious communities and leaders in promoting resilience and addressing underlying causes of despair. This study reveals how religious beliefs and practices support Nigerian youth facing existential challenges, shedding light on the intersection of religion, meaning-making, and mental health.

Differences in Beliefs About Suicide by Occupation in a Representative Sample of Adults in the United States, General Social Survey 2002-2021

OBJECTIVE

Beliefs about suicide are important aspects of suicide prevention gatekeeper trainings. This study sought to determine if workers in finance- and legal/judicial-related industries have significantly different levels of suicide acceptability compared to the general US population.

METHOD

Cross-sectional data are from the 2002 to 2021 General Social Survey (GSS). Suicide acceptability was measured with four dichotomous items to which respondents indicated yes/no if they thought someone has the right to end their life in four negative life scenarios. Occupational categories were coded based on U.S. Census Bureau occupation and industry codes. Covariates for multiple logistic regression analyses included age, educational attainment, sex, race, ethnicity, survey year, and religiosity.

RESULTS

Among the 15,166 respondents, 651 people worked in finance-related occupations and 319 people worked in legal/judicial-related occupations. In adjusted models, people in finance-related occupations had greater odds of endorsing suicide as acceptable if one has an incurable disease (aOR = 1.25, 95%CI = 1.03-1.52) and marginally greater odds of endorsing suicide as acceptable if one dishonors their family (aOR = 1.31, 95%CI = 0.99-1.74) than the general adult population. People in legal/judicial-related occupations were more likely to endorse 3 of the 4 suicide acceptability items compared to the general adult population, however these differences were not statistically significant after accounting for demographic factors.

CONCLUSION

Workers in non-clinical industries that frequently see clients during negative life events are prime audiences for gatekeeper trainings but may have entrenched beliefs about suicide acceptability. Research is needed to determine how these beliefs may impact gatekeeper training.

Evaluating the Use of a Two-Step Gender Identity Measure in the 2018 General Social Survey

In 2018, the General Social Survey (GSS) asked some respondents for their sex assigned at birth and current gender identity, in addition to the ongoing practice of having survey interviewers code respondent sex. Between 0.44% and 0.93% of the respondents who were surveyed identified as transgender, identified with a gender that does not conventionally correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth, or identified the sex they were assigned at birth inconsistently with the interviewer's assessment of respondent sex. These results corroborate previous estimates of the transgender population size in the United States. Furthermore, the implementation of these new questions mirrors the successful inclusion of other small populations represented in the GSS, such as lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, as well as Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus. Data on transgender and gender-nonconforming populations can be pooled together over time to assess these populations' attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and social inequality patterns. We identified inconsistencies between interviewer-coded sex, self-reported sex, and gender identity. As with the coding of race in the GSS, interviewer-coded assessments can mismatch respondents' self-reported identification. Our findings underscore the importance of continuing to ask respondents to self-report gender identity separately from sex assigned at birth in the GSS and other surveys.

Suicidal as Normal - A Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth Script?

Background: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth are more likely to report suicidal thoughts and/or behavior (STB) than heterosexual youth. The elevated suicidality of LGB youth is not fully accounted for by sexual-minority stress, according to a meta-analysis. A less-tested explanation is that suicidality has become an expected idiom of LGB youth distress. This explanation is consistent with suicide script theory and evidence that suicidal behavior is most likely when it is relatively acceptable. Aims: Building on suicide script theory and evidence, two studies were designed: one of LGB youth attitudes about suicidal behavior, and the other of LGB youth attitudes about suicidal individuals. Method: Surveys of LGB and heterosexual youth (total N = 300; M age = 20; 51% female) were conducted. Results: LGB youth were more accepting of and empathic toward suicidal behavior than heterosexual youth. They also viewed suicidal individuals as more emotionally adjusted. Limitations: Attitudes were not examined by sexual-minority subgroups. Conclusion: LGB youth's understanding attitudes may translate into less judgmental behavior toward suicidal peers, but also into normalizing suicidality as a way to express distress and cope with life problems. There may be utility in evaluating LGB youth suicide attitudes in suicide prevention initiatives.