Risk and Protective Factors Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth With Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors…

Cross-sectionalPediatric emergency care· Aug 2026

Risk and Protective Factors Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth With Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

Sarah R Johnson, Allison J Vachon, Jonathon W Wanta … Jennifer A Hoffmann

Pediatric Emergency MedicineCross-sectionalQ2IF 1.0

Access to lethal means strongly linked to psychiatric admission in transgender youth

Risk and Protective Factors Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth With Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

Sarah R Johnson … Jennifer A Hoffmann

Pediatric emergency care · Aug 2026 · Q2 in Emergency Medicine

Background

Transgender and gender diverse (transgender and gender diverse) youth attempt suicide at higher rates than cisgender peers.

Purpose

Among transgender and gender diverse youth who received psychiatric consultation in the emergency department (emergency department) for suicidal thoughts or behaviors (STB), we aimed to describe factors associated with admission and with return emergency department visits within 6 months.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of transgender and gender diverse youth 11 to 17 years old who presented to an academic children's hospital emergency department from January 2021 to June 2024, screened positive on Ask Suicide-Screening Questions, and received psychiatric consultation.

Results

access to lethal means sharply raised odds of psychiatric admission

AOR by subgroup · 95% CI

More results

We included 229 transgender and gender diverse youth (53% were 13 to 15 y old, 12% identified as transgender).

The adjusted odds of returning were lower among 16- to 18-year-olds (aOR: 0.17, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.72) compared with 11- to 12-year-olds.

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

Among transgender and gender diverse youth with STB who received emergency department psychiatric consultation, identification of coping strategies and access to lethal means were associated with admission decisions.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

Further work is needed to understand how to improve mental health and reduce suicide risk among transgender and gender diverse youth receiving psychiatric consultation in the emergency department.

Risk and Protective Factors Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth With Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

Risk and Protective Factors Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth With Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

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