Differences in gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation across latent classes of suicide ideation and related behaviour

Objective: This study aimed to identify latent classes of suicidal thought content and suicide-related behaviour. Further, we tested whether classes differentially represented people based on key aspects of social identity.Method: Young adults (N = 447) who endorsed recent suicide ideation completed the Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Interview-Revised (Fox et al., 2020). A latent class analysis was conducted with lifetime suicidal thoughts and suicide planning, preparation, and attempt. Classes were compared on gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and their intersections.Results: There were three distinct classes of suicide ideation and related behaviour: Thoughts of Nonexistence (23.04% of participants; consisting of three passive thoughts), Passive Ideation (36.91%; consisting of six passive thoughts and planning a way or method), and Passive and Active Ideation (40.04%; consisting of six passive and two active thoughts, planning a way or method and place, preparation, and attempt). The Passive Ideation class overrepresented racialized people compared to the Passive and Active Ideation class, p = .017, which overrepresented 2SLGBTQIA+ people compared to either of the other classes, ps < .001. Intersectional differences emerged but were nonsignificant after adjusting for multiple comparisons.Conclusions: Our study improves knowledge about patterns of suicide ideation and related behaviour, and differences in their prevalence based on major axes and intersections of social identity.