1. Melonie Heron, “Deaths: Leading Causes for 2017,” National Vital Statistics Reports 68, no. 6 (June 24, 2019): 11.

2. Francis Annor, Amanda Wilkinson, and Marissa Zwald, “Epi-Aid #2017-019: Undetermined Risk Factors for Suicide among Youth Aged 10–17—Utah, 2017,” 2017, 46, table 1.

3. Steven E. Barkan, Michael Rocque, and Jason Houle, “State and Regional Suicide Rates: A New Look at an Old Puzzle,” Sociological Perspectives 56, no. 2 (Summer 2013): 287–97, https://doi.org/10.1525/sop.2013.56.2.287; Nathan Daniel Lucia Smith and Ichiro Kawachi, “State-Level Social Capital and Suicide Mortality in the 50 U.S. States,” Social Science & Medicine, 120 (November 2014): 269–77, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614005747?via%3Dihub.

4. Barry Brenner and others, “Positive Association between Altitude and Suicide in 2584 U.S. Counties,” High Altitude Medicine and Biology 12, no. 1 (2011): 31–35, https://doi.org/10.1089/ham.2010.1058; Namkug Kim and others, “Altitude, Gun Ownership, Rural Areas, and Suicide,” American Journal of Psychiatry 168, no. 1 (2011): 49–54, https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10020289.

5. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “CDC WONDER,” accessed July 12, 2021, https://wonder.cdc.gov/.

6. W. Justin Dyer, “Book Review: Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences,” BYU Studies 59, no. 1 (2020): 227.

7. “Facts and Statistics,” Newsroom, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, accessed November 22, 2021, https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/state/utah.

8. While transgender individuals are often included when discussing sexual orientation, they are not a focus of this study. Gender identity is distinct from sexual orientation, requiring unique research attention. Given small numbers of transgender individuals in the SHARP data, had they been included in the analyses, any unique characteristics would have been lost. We therefore focus on LGBQ individuals for this study, recognizing the importance of studying transgender individuals in future research.

9. Michael Barker, Daniel Parkinson, and Benjamin Knoll, “The LGBTQ Mormon Crisis: Responding to the Empirical Research on Suicide,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 49, no. 2 (Summer 2016): 23, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/dialjmormthou.49.2.0001; Benjamin Knoll, “Youth Suicide Rates and Mormon Religious Context: An Additional Empirical Analysis,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 49, no. 2 (Summer 2016): 25–26; Gregory A. Prince, Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2019).

10. Rasaki Aranmolate and others, “Suicide Risk Factors among LGBTQ Youth: Review,” JSM Schizophrenia 2, no. 2 (2017): 1.

11. See Steven Stack and Augustine J. Kposowa, “Religion and Suicide: Integrating Four Theories Cross‐Nationally,” in International Handbook of Suicide Prevention: Research, Policy and Practice, ed. Rory C. O’Connor and others (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), 235–52; Steven Stack and Augustine J. Kposowa, “Sociological Perspectives on Suicide: A Review and Analysis of Marital and Religious Integration,” in International Handbook of Suicide Prevention, 2nd ed., ed. Rory C. O’Connor and Jane Perkis (Oxford: Wiley and Sons, 2016), 241–57.

12. Émile Durkheim, Suicide: A Study in Sociology, ed. George Simpson, trans. John A. Spaulding and George Simpson (1897; Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1979), 13.

13. Stack and Kposowa, “Religion and Suicide: Integrating Four Theories Cross‐Nationally,” in International Handbook of Suicide Prevention: Research, Policy, and Practice, ed. Rory C. O’Connor and others (Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), 240–41; S. Stack, “The Effect of Religious Commitment on Suicide: A Cross-National Analysis,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 24, no. 4 (December 1983): 362–74.

14. Evan M. Kleiman and Richard T. Liu, “Prospective Prediction of Suicide in a Nationally Representative Sample: Religious Service Attendance as a Protective Factor,” The British Journal of Psychiatry 204 (2014): 262, https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.113.128900; Tyler J. VanderWeele and others, “Association between Religious Service Attendance and Lower Suicide Rates among US Women,” JAMA Psychiatry 73, no. 8 (2016): 845–51, https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.1243.

15. Kanita Dervic and others, “Religious Affiliation and Suicide Attempt,” American Journal of Psychiatry 161, no. 12 (December 2004): 2303–8, https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.161.12.2303.

16. Dermot O’Reilly and Michael Rosato, “Religion and the Risk of Suicide: Longitudinal Study of over 1 Million People,” The British Journal of Psychiatry 206 (2015): 466, https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.113.128694.

17. The religious beliefs studied include belief in an afterlife and belief in a compassionate God, among others. See Leilani Greening and Laura Stoppelbein, “Religiosity, Attributional Style, and Social Support as Psychosocial Buffers for African American and White Adolescents’ Perceived Risk for Suicide,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 32, no. 4 (Winter 2002): 404–17, https://doi.org/10.1521/suli.32.4.404.22333; Tobias Teismann and others, “Religious Beliefs Buffer the Impact of Depression on Suicide Ideation,” Psychiatry Research 257 (November 1, 2017): 276–78, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.07.060.

18. See Erminia Colucci and Graham Martin, “Religion and Spirituality along the Suicidal Path,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 38, no. 2 (April 2008): 229–44, https://doi.org/doi:10.1521/suli.2008.38.2.229.

19. Christopher M. Bell and others, “The Role of Perceived Burden and Social Support in Suicide and Depression,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 48, no. 1 (February 2018): 87–94, https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12327; Jennifer M. Buchman-Schmitt and others, “Suicidality in Adolescent Populations: A Review of the Extant Literature through the Lens of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide,” International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy 9, no. 3 (July 2014): 29–31.

20. See, for example, Emily Padgett and others, “Marital Sanctification and Spiritual Intimacy Predicting Married Couples’ Observed Intimacy Skills across the Transition to Parenthood,” Religions 10, no. 3 (2019): 177, https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10030177.

21. Esme Fuller-Thomson and Angela D. Dalton, “Suicidal Ideation among Individuals Whose Parents Have Divorced: Findings from a Representative Canadian Community Survey,” Psychiatry Research 187, no. 1 (2011): 150–55, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2010.12.004.

22. Joshua D. Tuttle and Shannon N. Davis, “Religion, Infidelity, and Divorce: Reexamining the Effect of Religious Behavior on Divorce among Long-Married Couples,” Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 56, no. 6 (2015): 475–89, https://doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2015.1058660.

23. Ryan E. Lawrence and others, “Religion as a Risk Factor for Suicide Attempt and Suicide Ideation among Depressed Patients,” The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 204, no. 11 (November 2016): 845–50, https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000484.

24. Ning Hsieh, “A Global Perspective on Religious Participation and Suicide,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 58, no. 3 (2017): 322–39, https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146517715896.

25. Gina M. Brelsford, “Divine Alliances to Handle Family Conflict: Theistic Mediation and Triangulation in Father-Child Relationships,” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 3, no. 4 (2011): 285–97, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021602.

26. Kelly M. Trevino and others, “Negative Religious Coping as a Correlate of Suicidal Ideation in Patients with Advanced Cancer,” Psycho‐oncology 23 (2014): 942.

27. For additional discussion on LGBQ individuals feeling disconnected from their religion, see Megan C. Lytle and others, “Association of Religiosity with Sexual Minority Suicide Ideation and Attempt,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 54, no. 5 (2018): 644–51, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2018.01.019.

28. Jeremy J. Gibbs and Jeremy Goldbach, “Religious Conflict, Sexual Identity, and Suicidal Behaviors among LGBT Young Adults,” Archives of Suicide Research: Official Journal of the International Academy for Suicide Research 19, no. 4 (2015): 472–88, https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2015.1004476; Lytle and others, “Association of Religiosity with Sexual Minority Suicide Ideation and Attempt,” 644.

29. G. T. Lefevor and others, “The Relationship between Religiousness and Health among Sexual Minorities: A Meta-analysis,” Psychological Bulletin 147, no. 7 (2021): 647–66, https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000321.

30. Gilbert W. Fellingham and others, “Statistics on Suicide and LDS Church Involvement in Males Age 15–34,” BYU Studies 39, no. 2 (2000): 179; Sterling C. Hilton, Gilbert W. Fellingham, and Joseph L. Lyon, “Suicide Rates and Religious Commitment in Young Adult Males in Utah,” American Journal of Epidemiology 155, no. 5 (2002): 413–19, https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/155.5.413.

31. Fellingham and others, “Statistics on Suicide and LDS Church Involvement in Males Age 15–34,” 418.

32. Francis Annor, Amanda Wilkinson, and Marissa Zwald, “Epi-Aid # 2017-019: Undetermined Risk Factors for Suicide among Youth Aged 10–17—Utah, 2017,” 2017, 46.

33. Prince, Gay Rights and the Mormon Church, ch. 29.

34. G. Tyler Lefevor and others, “The Role of Religiousness and Beliefs about Sexuality in Well-Being among Sexual Minority Mormons,” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 12, no. 4 (2020): 460–70, https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000261.

35. John P. Dehlin and others, “Psychosocial Correlates of Religious Approaches to Same-Sex Attraction: A Mormon Perspective,” Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health 18, no. 3 (July 3, 2014): 284–311, https://doi.org/10.1080/19359705.2014.912970.

36. Stephen Cranney, “The LGB Mormon Paradox: Mental, Physical, and Self-Rated Health among Mormon and Non-Mormon LGB Individuals in the Utah Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System,” Journal of Homosexuality 64, no. 6 (2017): 731–44, https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2016.1236570. In this study, those who were questioning were not included.

37. Jared S. Klundt and others, “Sexual Minorities, Mental Health, and Religiosity at a Religiously Conservative University,” Personality and Individual Differences 171 (March 1, 2021): 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110475.

38. Fellingham and others, “Statistics on Suicide and LDS Church Involvement in Males Age 15–34,” 173–80; Hilton, Fellingham, and Lyon, “Suicide Rates and Religious Commitment in Young Adult Males in Utah.”

39. Dean M. Busby and David C. Dollahite, “The Strengths and Challenges of Contemporary Marriages of Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” BYU Studies Quarterly 59, no. 1 (2020): 130.

40. Nathan D. Leonhardt and others, “Together Forever: Eternal Perspective and Sacred Practices in American Latter-day Saint Families,” Marriage and Family Review 54, no. 7 (2018): 719–32, https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2018.1469575.

41. Rachel W. Loser and others, “Perceived Benefits of Religious Rituals in the Latter-Day Saint Home,” Review of Religious Research 50, no. 3 (March 2009): 345–62.

42. Annette Mahoney, “Religion in Families, 1999–2009: A Relational Spirituality Framework,” Journal of Marriage and Family 72, no. 4 (August 2010): 805–27, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00732.x.

43. Parental divorce is also related to suicidality. For examples, see Bin Yang and George A. Clum, “Effects of Early Negative Life Experiences on Cognitive Functioning and Risk for Suicide: A Review,” Clinical Psychology Review 16, no. 3 (1996): 177–95, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7358(96)00004-9; Evelyn L. Lehrer and Carmel U. Chiswick, “Religion as a Determinant of Marital Stability,” Demography 30, no. 3 (1993): 385–404, https://doi.org/10.2307/2061647.

44. See “Word of Wisdom,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, accessed May 21, 2020, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/word-of-wisdom?lang=eng.

45. Amanda Moskowitz, Judith A. Stein, and Marguerita Lightfoot, “The Mediating Roles of Stress and Maladaptive Behaviors on Self-Harm and Suicide Attempts among Runaway and Homeless Youth,” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 42, no. 7 (July 1, 2013): 1015–27, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9793-4; Karen P. Reed, William Nugent, and R. Lyle Cooper, “Testing a Path Model of Relationships between Gender, Age, and Bullying Victimization and Violent Behavior, Substance Abuse, Depression, Suicidal Ideation, and Suicide Attempts in Adolescents,” Children and Youth Services Review 55 (August 2015): 128–37, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.05.016.

46. Ray M. Merrill, Jeffrey A. Folsom, and Susan S. Christopherson, “The Influence of Family Religiosity on Adolescent Substance Use According to Religious Preference,” Social Behavior and Personality 33, no. 8 (2005): 821–36, https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2005.33.8.821; Laurence Michalak, Karen Trocki, and Jason Bond, “Religion and Alcohol in the U.S. National Alcohol Survey: How Important Is Religion for Abstention and Drinking?,” Drug and Alcohol Dependence 87, no. 2 (March 16, 2007): 271, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2006.07.013.

47. W. Justin Dyer, “Refining Research on the Intersection between Sexual Orientation, Suicide, and Religiosity,” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, forthcoming, https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000451.

48. “2019 SHARP Utah Prevention Needs Assessment Survey,” State of Utah DSAMH, accessed June 23, 2020, https://dsamh.utah.gov/pdf/sharp/2019/State%20of%20Utah%20Report.pdf.

49. Anecdotally, the first author spoke with a sixth grader who took the survey, and the student was unsure what was being asked by the sexual orientation question and left it blank.

50. Fellingham and others, “Statistics on Suicide and LDS Church Involvement in Males Age 15–34”; Hilton, Fellingham, and Lyon, “Suicide Rates and Religious Commitment in Young Adult Males in Utah.”

51. James S. McGraw and others, “Family, Faith, and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors (STBs) among LGBTQ Youth in Utah,” Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, advance online publication, October 7, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000517; Fellingham and others, “Statistics on Suicide and LDS Church Involvement in Males Age 15–34,” 179; Hilton, Fellingham, and Lyon, “Suicide Rates and Religious Commitment in Young Adult Males in Utah.”

52. For resources about gatekeeper training, see “Appendix E: General Suicide Prevention Resources,” in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, and National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action (Washington, D.C.: HHS, 2012), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK109914/.

53. For more about CRP, see Craig J. Bryan and others, “Effect of Crisis Response Planning on Patient Mood and Clinician Decision Making: A Clinical Trial with Suicidal U.S. Soldiers,” Psychiatric Services 69, no. 1 (January 2018): 108–11, https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201700157.

54. Rodney Stark, Daniel P. Doyle, and Jesse Lynn Rushing, “Beyond Durkheim: Religion and Suicide,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 22, no. 2 (June): 120–31, esp. 120.

55. See Barker, Parkinson, and Knoll, “LGBTQ Mormon Crisis,” 23; Knoll, “Youth Suicide Rates and Mormon Religious Context: An Additional Empirical Analysis,” 25–26; Prince, Gay Rights and the Mormon Church, ch. 29.

56. Annor, Wilkinson, and Zwald, “Epi-Aid # 2017-019: Undetermined Risk Factors for Suicide among Youth Aged 10–17—Utah, 2017,” 46; Fellingham and others, “Statistics on Suicide and LDS Church Involvement in Males Age 15–34,” 179; Hilton, Fellingham, and Lyon, “Suicide Rates and Religious Commitment in Young Adult Males in Utah.”

57. Cranney, “LGB Mormon Paradox.”

58. Michael W. Arthur and others, “Measuring Risk and Protective Factors for Substance Use, Delinquency, and Other Adolescent Problem Behaviors: The Communities That Care Youth Survey,” Evaluation Review 26, no. 6 (December 2002): 575–601, https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X0202600601.

59. Arthur and others, “Measuring Risk and Protective Factors,” 575; “2019 SHARP Utah Prevention Needs Assessment Survey,” 58.

60. See Linda K. Muthén and Bengt O. Muthén, Mplus User’s Guide, 8th ed. (Los Angeles: self-pub., 2017).

61. See Todd D. Little, David W. Slegers, and Noel A. Card, “A Non-Arbitrary Method of Identifying and Scaling Latent Variables in SEM and MACS Models,” Structural Equation Modeling 13, no. 1 (2006): 59–72.

62. Tenko Raykov, “Scale Construction and Development Using Structural Equation Modeling,” in Handbook of Structural Equation Modeling, ed. Rick H. Hoyle (New York: Guilford, 2012), 472–92.

63. Statements drawn from Arthur and others, “Measuring Risk and Protective Factors.”

64. See Patrick Royston, “Multiple Imputation of Missing Values: Update,” Stata Journal 5, no. 2 (2005): 188–201.

65. Craig K. Enders, Applied Missing Data Analysis (New York: Guilford Press, 2010), 213.

66. StataCorp, Multiple Imputation (College Station, Tex.: Stata Press, 2017).

67. Anecdotally, the first author spoke with a sixth grader who took the survey, and this student was unsure what was being asked by the sexual-orientation question and left it blank.

David S. Wood

BYU Studies Publications