Gender-diverse college students with autism may be more likely to attempt suicide

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-10-10 02:00

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***This media release contains information some readers may find distressing as it refers to data about mental health, suicide and self-harm. If you or anyone you know needs help, support is available now. Call Lifeline (Aus) on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, or Lifeline (NZ) on 0800 543 354. ***

US scientists say both gender-diverse college students and students with autism are more likely than their cis peers without autism to experience suicidal thoughts and behaviours, and students who are both gender-diverse and autistic may be the most likely to attempt suicide. They looked at data from more than 41,000 students with an average age of around 23, and found gender-diverse students were 3.34 times as likely as their cis peers to experience suicidal thoughts, while students with autism were 2.06 times as likely to experience them as students without autism. When it came to suicide attempts, gender-diverse students were 2.74 times as likely as their cis peers to have attempted suicide, while students with autism were 2.39 times as likely, compared with non-autistic students. The students most at risk of attempting suicide were those who were both gender-diverse and autistic, the authors say. The findings highlight the need for interventions to support gender-diverse and autistic students, they conclude.