Associations of Social Networks with Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Sexual and Gender Minority Young Adults Experiencing Homelessness

Background and Purpose: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) young adults are disproportionately represented among youth experiencing homelessness (YAEH) and face elevated risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). Social networks may serve as both protective and risk factors, yet little is known about how specific relational ties relate to STBs among SGM YAEH. Guided by minority stress, syndemic, and social network theories, this study examines how supportive and conflictual relationships across key peer, family, and chosen networks relate to lifetime STBs. Understanding these dynamics is critical to informing interventions, programs, and policies that strengthen safety and health for marginalized young adults.

Methods: Data were drawn from 318 SGM YAEH aged 18–25 recruited from drop-in centers in Los Angeles, CA, and St. Louis, MO. Participants completed an anonymous structured social network survey eliciting up to 20 individuals they interacted with in the past year, capturing relationship type (e.g., SGM alter, adult relative, YAEH peer, and home-based friend) and assessments of emotional support and/or conflict. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models examined whether the presence of at least one supportive, conflictual, or both types of alter was associated with lifetime STBs, adjusting for demographic and contextual covariates.

Results: In this sample (mean age = 21.5 years; 47.9% non-cisgender; 95.9% non- heterosexual), lifetime STBs were highly prevalent: 72.8% suicidal ideation, 63.0% suicide planning, and 61.6% at least one suicide attempt. Across alters, SGM ties were most common (40.0% supportive; 26.1% conflictual; 26.8% both), followed by home- based friends, YAEH peers, and adult relatives, with adult relatives showing higher prevalence of conflictual than supportive ties. In adjusted models, the presence of supportive, conflictual, or both types of SGM and peer alters was associated with higher odds of STBs (e.g., supportive SGM alter and suicidal ideation aOR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.27–4.14; conflictual SGM alter and suicidal ideation aOR = 2.60, 95% CI = 1.30–5.22). No significant associations were observed for adult relatives or home-based friends across STB outcomes.

Conclusions and Implications: This study is the first to examine how alter-level emotional support and conflict across multiple relationship types relate to STBs among SGM YAEH, highlighting the complex role of social networks. Findings suggest that ties within peer and chosen networks may not always function as protective, which may reflect temporal limitations of cross-sectional data or the possibility that social support in the context of shared adversity can result in vicarious trauma and socially reinforced STB risk. These results emphasize the need for affirming interventions that address both support and conflict, enhance structural supports such as housing stability, and implement policies that reduce community-wide inequities and promote mental health among SGM YAEH. By translating these findings into practice and policy, social work research can advance equity and strengthen community bonds and well-being.