# Psychosocial Predictors of Risk for Suicidal Behavior Among Gender Minority Adolescents

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $785,097

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
In response to NOT-MD-22-012: Gender minority adolescents (GMAs; adolescents whose gender identity is
different than their sex assigned at birth) have higher risk for suicidal behavior when compared to non-GMAs.
In preliminary data, 85% of GMAs ages 14–18 seriously considered suicide in their lifetime, and 50% of GMAs
have engaged in suicidal behavior. Despite alarmingly high rates of suicidal behavior, very little is known about
how psychosocial experiences predict risk for suicidal behavior among GMAs. In particular, longitudinal data
examining GMA risk for suicidal behavior over time remain limited. The proposed study will be the first to
identify how multiple psychosocial experiences predict changes in risk for suicidal behavior over a 12-month
period in a large, diverse, nationwide sample of GMAs and a comparison group of non-GMAs.
 GMAs report higher levels of general stressors than non-GMAs, including peer victimization and low
parental support. GMAs also have unique psychosocial experiences, including undergoing social and medical
gender transition steps to increase congruence between gender identity and gender expression as well as
experiencing minority stress and discrimination. These psychosocial experiences likely increase risk
for suicidal behavior among GMAs, but current empirical knowledge is critically limited, including a dearth of
longitudinal studies. We propose to examine how risk for suicidal behavior changes over time among GMAs,
including how changes in general stressors and unique psychosocial experiences predict changes in
established risk factors for suicidal behavior among a large, diverse sample of GMAs and non-GMAs. This
study will be the first to integrate constructs from minority stress theory and the interpersonal theory of suicide
to explicate pathways between psychosocial predictors and established risk factors for suicidal behavior over
time among GMAs, elucidating novel intervention targets to reduce their risk for suicidal behavior.
 We will recruit 1,500 diverse adolescents ages 14–18 through social media advertisements, including
1,000 GMAs, and participants will complete a clinical interview and survey protocol at baseline and follow-ups
at 3-, 6-, and 12-months. We aim to examine how risk for suicidal behavior changes over time among GMAs as
compared to non-GMAs during adolescence, how general stressors predict risk for suicidal behavior among
GMAs as compared to non-GMAs, and how unique psychosocial experiences predict risk for suicidal behavior
among GMAs.
 Gender minority individuals are an NIH-designated health disparities population, and the proposed study
will advance our understanding of the psychosocial predictors of risk for suicidal behavior among GMAs, a
pressing health disparity between GMAs and non-GMAs. Our proposed longitudinal investigation is responsive
to NIMHD scientific priorities, represents a pioneering effort to move the field of GMA health equity forward,
an...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10875822
- **Project number:** 1R01MD018582-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Brian Thoma
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $785,097
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-03 → 2029-12-16

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10875822

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10875822, Psychosocial Predictors of Risk for Suicidal Behavior Among Gender Minority Adolescents (1R01MD018582-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10875822. Licensed CC0.

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