UCLA analysis links violence to suicide risk among transgender people
Williams Institute researchers found far higher rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts among transgender survey respondents than in the U.S. general population.
By Tom Brennan · Health & Medicine Correspondent
2 min read
A UCLA School of Law research center found high rates of recent suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among transgender people in an analysis of 2022 survey data. The Williams Institute said the findings point to violence, harassment and other anti-transgender experiences as factors tied to elevated risk.
The analysis used responses from more than 92,000 transgender people in the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey, according to the Williams Institute. Among respondents ages 16 and older, 39% said they had seriously considered suicide in the year before taking the survey, and 5% said they had attempted suicide during that period.
Those figures were far above rates reported for the broader public. The Williams Institute cited the 2022 National Survey of Drug Use and Health, which found that 5% of adults in the U.S. general population had considered suicide and 0.6% had attempted it.
Researchers said transgender people face many suicide risk factors also found in the general population, including depression, substance misuse, poor health and homelessness. The institute said transgender people also encounter distinct risks, including violence, harassment, conversion therapy and hostile policy environments.
The analysis found a sharp difference among respondents who reported being physically attacked because they are transgender. Among that group, 65% said they had seriously considered suicide and 20% said they had attempted suicide, the Williams Institute reported.
Among respondents who did not report physical violence, 38% said they had seriously considered suicide and 5% said they had attempted suicide, according to the institute.
Jody Herman, lead author of the analysis and a senior scholar of public policy at the Williams Institute, said transgender-specific harms compound broader risks. “Negative experiences specific to transgender people add to the risk factors they already share with the general population,” Herman said.
Herman said suicide prevention efforts should address broader systems that expose transgender people to stigma, discrimination and violence. “Suicide prevention efforts must target the social structures and institutions that stigmatize transgender people and contribute to the widespread discrimination and violence they face,” Herman said.
The Williams Institute said the research examined risk factors for suicidal thoughts and attempts during the year before respondents completed the 2022 survey. The institute also said the dataset allowed researchers, for the first time, to analyze results for respondents ages 16 to 17 as well as adults.
The findings were published in the Williams Institute analysis, “Suicide Thoughts and Attempts Among Transgender People: Findings from the 2022 US Trans Survey.”
This story draws on original reporting from Phys.org.