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Perceived life expectancy and life purpose mediate relation between discrimination and suicide attempts in LGBTQ+ youth

Nature Mental Health volume 3, pages 1070–1077 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Discrimination related to one’s sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) is associated with suicide risk in LGBTQ+ youth, and protective factors, such as greater perceived life expectancy and life purpose, are associated with reduced risk. However, no research has examined the relationship between SOGI-based discrimination, life purpose, and perceived life expectancy in LGBTQ+ youth, especially considering suicide risk. After implementing a conditional process modeling approach with LGBTQ+ youth (N = 28,524; cross-sectional), we found that life purpose and perceived life expectancy partially mediated the relationship between SOGI-based discrimination and attempting suicide in the past year. Perceived life expectancy also partially mediated the relationship between life purpose and attempting suicide, with lower life purpose being associated with lower perceived life expectancy. Recommendations for researchers, providers, policymakers and other LGBTQ+ facing adults are included that can inform policy and crisis intervention, as well as methods of improving the perceived life expectancy and life purpose of LGBTQ+ youth.

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Fig. 1: Conditional process model of SOGI-based discrimination, perceived life expectancy, and past-year suicide attempt.
Fig. 2: Conditional process model of SOGI-based discrimination, life purpose, and past-year suicide attempt.
Fig. 3: Conditional process model of life purpose, perceived life expectancy, and past-year suicide attempt.
Fig. 4: Conditional process model of SOGI-based discrimination, life purpose, perceived life expectancy, and past-year suicide attempt.

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Data availability

In alignment with our ethical obligations to protect the safety, confidentiality and trust of our LGBTQ+ youth participants, data are not available. Please email research@thetrevorproject.org for more information. For more information about the broader study, please see https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2023/.

Code availability

Syntax code that supports the finding of this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, although restrictions may apply due to privacy reasons. Please email research@thetrevorproject.org for more information. All analyses were conducted using SPSS.

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Acknowledgements

The authors received no specific funding for this work. Full information on the sources of funding that support The Trevor Project, of which the authors are current employees, can be found at https://www.thetrevorproject.org/financial-reports/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Trevor Project, West Hollywood, CA, USA

    Steven Hobaica, Derrick D. Matthews, Jonah P. DeChants & Ronita Nath

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  1. Steven Hobaica
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  2. Derrick D. Matthews
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Contributions

S.H. conceptualized the study and research design, conducted the analyses and wrote the first draft of the paper. D.D.M. provided substantial feedback on the analysis plan and manuscript. J.P.D. and R.N. provided additional feedback on the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved this article before submission. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Steven Hobaica.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests. The authors are current or former employees of The Trevor Project, which is a nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status and Federal EIN #95-4681287. The Trevor Project provides crisis services for LGBTQ+ young people, as well as research, education and public awareness and advocacy.

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Nature Mental Health thanks A. Jess Williams and the other, anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Hobaica, S., Matthews, D.D., DeChants, J.P. et al. Perceived life expectancy and life purpose mediate relation between discrimination and suicide attempts in LGBTQ+ youth. Nat. Mental Health 3, 1070–1077 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00483-7

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