A trusted confidant sharply lowers depression and suicide risk in LGBQ+ teens

For adolescents navigating the turbulent years between childhood and adulthood, the simple act of having someone to talk to about a serious problem may be one of the most powerful protective factors researchers have measured. A new study from Tulane University, published in JAMA Pediatrics, finds that gay, lesbian and bisexual teenagers who have at least one trusted person to turn to report dramatically better mental health outcomes than peers who face their struggles alone. The findings arrive at a moment when adolescent mental health has become a central concern for clinicians, educators and policymakers, and they offer a concrete, actionable target for intervention: connection.

The research team, led by Evan Krueger, an assistant professor in the Tulane University School of Social Work, drew on a nationally representative survey of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. Rather than focusing solely on identity markers or demographic categories, the investigators examined a behavioral variable that is often overlooked in disparities research: whether a teenager has anyone they would confide in when confronted with a serious problem. This shift in focus, from who a teen is to who a teen can reach, allowed the researchers to quantify the relationship between perceived social support and mental health risk with unusual precision.

The numbers are striking. Among gay and lesbian teens who reported having no trusted person to turn to, an estimated 61 percent had experienced depression in the past year. Among those with at least one confidant, that figure dropped to 35 percent. The disparity widened further when the researchers looked at suicidal ideation: 66 percent of gay and lesbian teens without a trusted person reported having seriously considered suicide in the past year, compared with 27 percent of those who had someone to talk to. In epidemiological terms, the presence of a single supportive relationship was associated with a reduction in reported suicidal thoughts of nearly forty percentage points, a magnitude of effect that few individual-level interventions in adolescent mental health can approach.

Across the full sample of sexual minority youth, the pattern held consistently. Having someone to talk to was linked to lower rates of depression, lower rates of suicidal thoughts and lower rates of having made a suicide plan in the past year. Krueger noted that while this protective association appeared across the board, for many LGBQ+ youth it made an even bigger difference. That observation matters because sexual minority adolescents already carry a disproportionate burden of mental health risk, driven in large part by stressors that are social rather than biological in origin, including stigma, discrimination and bullying layered on top of the ordinary challenges of adolescence.

The study also illuminated a second, equally important finding about where teenagers seek help. When asked whom they would approach with a serious problem, roughly eight in ten heterosexual teens said they would turn to a parent. Among gay, lesbian and bisexual teens, that figure fell to about six in ten. On average, LGBQ+ youth reported feeling less able to turn to their mothers or fathers, a gap that likely reflects a combination of fear of rejection, uncertainty about how their families will react, and in some cases experiences of outright non-affirmation at home. The result suggests that for a substantial share of sexual minority adolescents, the most conventional source of support in a crisis is not reliably available.

What the researchers found instead was a picture of resourcefulness. LGBQ+ teens turned more often to friends, romantic partners and other adults in their lives, and they were more likely than their heterosexual peers to rely on several different people rather than a single confidant. Krueger emphasized that this does not mean these young people do not need their parents; rather, it shows that when support is not found at home, many LGBQ+ youth actively seek out connection and support elsewhere. From a developmental science perspective, this diversification of support networks can be adaptive, but it also raises questions about consistency and depth, since friends may not fully replace a stable, supportive adult in a young person’s life.

The findings dovetail with a growing body of evidence on the role of schools in adolescent wellbeing. Previous research has found that the presence of supportive school personnel, including teachers, counselors and other staff, is associated with lower suicide risk among LGBQ+ youth. Krueger and his colleagues suggest that these adults may play pivotal roles in filling the support gap, fostering psychological safety and a sense of belonging for young people who lack affirmation at home. In practical terms, a counselor who keeps an open door or a teacher who signals acceptance may function as the trusted confidant whose presence the new study links to sharply reduced risk.

The research may also help explain why broader population-level indicators of teen mental health have recently begun to improve. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have documented gains in adolescent mental health, and experts have credited part of that improvement to school-based efforts that connect students with support. If the mechanism behind those efforts is, at least in part, the creation of trusted relationships, then the Tulane study provides a plausible causal scaffold for why such programs work: they increase the number of young people who have someone to turn to, and that single change is associated with large reductions in depression and suicidality.

The study’s co-author, Isaac Wright, a recent graduate of the School of Social Work, joined Krueger in pointing toward the implications of the work. The researchers are careful to note that friends, however vital, may not fully substitute for a consistent, supportive adult, and that schools, families and communities all share responsibility for ensuring that no teenager faces a serious problem alone. The message for intervention design is correspondingly broad: mentorship programs, inclusive school climates, family acceptance initiatives and community organizations all contribute to the same underlying variable that the study identifies as protective.

Ultimately, the research reframes a longstanding disparity in a way that invites action rather than resignation. The entrenched gaps in depression and suicide risk between sexual minority and heterosexual adolescents are well documented, but this study suggests that strengthening supportive relationships is one concrete way to begin narrowing them. As Krueger put it, if researchers and practitioners can find ways to facilitate meaningful, supportive relationships, that is one way to start reducing some of the longstanding, entrenched disparities in mental health outcomes. Supportive relationships benefit all children, but for LGBQ+ youth who are less likely to find support at home, cultivating them may be the difference between struggling in isolation and having a lifeline when it matters most.

Subject of Research: Social support and mental health outcomes among LGBQ+ adolescents in the United States

Article Title: Having someone to talk to linked to better mental health among LGBQ+ teens

Article References: Having someone to talk to linked to better mental health among LGBQ+ teens. (n.d.). Original publication

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: Not provided

Keywords: LGBQ+ youth, adolescent mental health, depression, suicidal ideation, social support, JAMA Pediatrics, Tulane University, help-seeking behavior, school support, sexual minority health, peer relationships, public health