LAUSR

BACKGROUND Religion has protective associations against suicidal behaviors, though it is unclear whether the protective effects extend to the high-risk group of sexual minorities. METHODS We analyzed data from the Healthy Minds Study, which was administered to college students enrolled in one of 140 campuses across the United States (N = 104,463) from September through December 2020, and from January to June 2021. We limited the sample to emerging adulthood (i.e., ages 18-30). We calculated the prevalence of suicidal behaviors and importance of religion, stratifying by sexual minority status. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the associations between predictors (sexual minority status, importance of religion) and outcomes (suicidal thoughts and behaviors), adjusting for age (continuous), gender (cisgender man, cisgender woman, non-binary/transgender), and race/ethnicity (White, Black, Asian American / Pacific Islanders, Latinx, Multiracial, Other). We then tested whether the association between importance of religion and suicidal behaviors was conditional on sexual minority status. RESULTS Significantly larger proportions of sexual minority students reported suicidal behaviors than straight students. A larger proportion of heterosexual students viewed religion to be very important in their lives when compared with sexual minority students. Being a sexual minority was associated with greater odds of all suicidal behaviors, and greater importance of religion was associated with lower odds of suicidal behaviors. The importance of religion was significantly associated with lower odds of suicidal behaviors for heterosexual students when compared with sexual minority students. CONCLUSION The association between importance of religion and suicidal behaviors was conditional on sexual minority status.