76% of LGBTQ youth prefer digital access to healthcare

Jackie Drees -

Most LGBTQ youth (76 percent) turn to the internet and social media when seeking mental healthcare information and services, according to a recent Trevor Project report.

For its National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health 2019, the Trevor Project, a nonprofit that focuses on suicide prevention efforts among young people who identify as LGBTQ, surveyed 25,986 U.S.-based LGBTQ individuals between the ages of 13 and 24.

Six survey insights:

1. When experiencing a mental health crisis, 76 percent of respondents said they would be "extremely likely" to contact an intervention group if it offered digital access, such as text messaging or online chat/instant messaging.

2. When asked how much they value an LGBTQ safe-space networking website, 81 percent of respondents said it is very valuable.

3. Thirty-one percent of survey participants who identified as cisgender said they have "seriously considered" attempting suicide in the past year. Of the same group, 14 percent respondents said they attempted suicide during that time frame.

4. Of the participants who identified as transgender and gender-nonbinary, 54 percent said they have "seriously considered" suicide in the past 12 months, while 29 percent have attempted it.

5. To gather survey responses, the Trevor Project used ads on social media that targeted users who expressed interest in LGBTQ topics and identified as non-heterosexual and/or having a non-cisgender identity.

6. Of the 34,808 survey respondents, responses from 8,437 were removed from the analysis due to issues such as the individual did not reside in the U.S., incomplete responses and suspicious answers.

To access the full report, click here.

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