Association among emotional and behavioural problems, sexual minority status and suicidal behaviours in adolescents: a cross-sectional study from Guangdong Province in China

Abstract

Objectives This study was conducted to estimate whether emotional and behavioural problems mediate the association between sexual minority status and suicidal behaviour among Chinese adolescents. We also tested whether such mediation is moderated by the sex assigned at birth. Design Cross-sectional observational study. Setting A secondary analysis of the cross-sectional data collected from 7th-grade to 12th-grade students in junior high schools (n=36), senior high schools (n=24) and vocational high schools (n=12) in six cities of Guangdong Province, China. A multistage, stratified cluster, random sampling method was used in the 2019 School-based Chinese Adolescents Health Survey. Participants A total of 16 663 students aged 11–20 years. Outcome measures Two main psychological and mental health outcomes: (1) self-reported version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to measure emotional and behavioural problems; and (2) presence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in the past 12 months. Results Emotional and behavioural problems (peer problems, emotional problems, conduct problems and hyperactivity) partially mediated the effects of sexual minority status on suicidal ideation (indirect effect=0.020, 95% CI 0.015 to 0.025) and suicide attempts (indirect effect=0.012, 95% CI 0.009 to 0.016), accounting for 18.18% and 14.46% of the total effect, respectively. Further moderated mediation analyses revealed a greater risk of suicidality among sexual minority girls. Conclusions Emotional and behavioural problems partially explained the increased risk of suicidality among sexual minority adolescents, and appreciably higher among sexual minority girls than boys. To prevent subsequent suicidality, the risks of emotional and behavioural problems in sexual minority adolescents should be identified at an early stage and reduced by means of preventive measures.