RT Journal Article
T1 Sexual orientation and suicide risk: Examining the contributions of hopelessness, life satisfaction, and spirituality
A1 Arbinaga, Félix
A1 Durán Andrada, Jara
A1 Fuentes Méndez, Cristina
A1 Flores Pérez, Manuel
A1 Romero Pérez, Nehemías
A1 Torres Rosado, Lidia
A1 Bernal López, Miriam
K1 Suicide
K1 Sexual orientation
K1 Hopelessness
K1 Life satisfaction
K1 Spirituality
K1 Religiosity
K1 Gay
K1 Lesbian
K1 Heterosexuality
K1 Bisexuality
AB Suicidal behaviors constitute a major global public health problem, with sexual minority groups showing a higher risk of engaging in such behaviors. This study aimed to analyze the influence of hopelessness, life satisfaction, and spirituality on suicide risk according to self-reported sexual orientation. A total of 532 individuals participated (M = 31.15 years, SD=12.002). Of these, 39.8% identified as heterosexual, 34.2% as gay or lesbian individuals, and 25.9% as bisexual. Participants were assessed using the Plutchik Suicide Risk Scale, Beck’s Hopelessness Scale, the Beliefs and Values Scale, and Diener’s Satisfaction with LifeScale. The results indicate that 52.9% of bisexual participants and 41.2% of gay and lesbian participants presented a high suicide risk, compared with 15.6% of heterosexual participants. Individuals with a high suicide risk reported higher levels of hopelessness (p < 0.001), lower levels of life satisfaction (p < 0.001), and similar levels of spirituality. The proportion of variance explained in suicide risk was 42.8% among bisexual participants, 34.2% among gay and lesbian participants, and 29.9% among heterosexual participants. Hopelessness predicted a similar proportion of across groups (β = 0.446 in heterosexuals, β = 0.447 in gays and lesbians, and β = 0.457 in bisexuals). Life satisfaction showed a protective predictive effect, with β = −0.241 in bisexual participants, followed by gay and lesbian participants (β = −0.186) and heterosexual participants (β = −0.137). Spirituality was significant only among gay and lesbian participants (β = 0.133) and bisexual participants (β = 0.214). Sexual minority groups exhibited a higher risk of suicide, with life satisfaction—but notspirituality—acting as a protective factor
PB MDPI
YR 2026
FD 2026
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/28067
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/28067
LA eng
NO Arbinaga, F., Durán-Andrada, J., Fuentes-Méndez, C., Flores-Pérez, M., Romero-Pérez, N., Torres-Rosado, L. & Bernal-López, M. (2026). Sexual orientation and suicide risk: Examining the contributions of hopelessness, life satisfaction, and spirituality. Behavioral Sciences, 16(3),406 https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16030406.
NO This work has been funded in part thanks to the support of EPIT-University of HuelvaSpain (University of Huelva Research and Transfer Policy Strategy 2026-EPIT Acronym in Spanish) to the CTS-980 (Annual financial assistance to the Research Group) Research Group and by the support of the Centre for Research in Contemporary Thought and Innovation for Social Development (COIDESO) at the University of Huelva (Huelva, Spain). (Financial Support for Translation).
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 14 jul 2026