Background: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) and racial and ethnical minority (REM) adolescents are overrepresented in carceral settings, yet little research examines their mental health at intersections of SGM and REM statuses. Methods: Population-based, cross-sectional data were drawn from the 2019 Minnesota Student Survey ( n = 221 incarcerated adolescents; M age = 15.5 years, range = 11–21 years). Using descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression, we examined differences in mental health indicators across four groups with intersecting SGM and REM statuses (−SGM/−REM, −SGM/+REM, +SGM/−REM, +SGM/+REM). Results: +SGM/−REM adolescents had the highest prevalence of past-year suicidal ideation (44.4%), suicide attempts (50.0%), self-harm (61.1%), and recent depressive symptoms (33.3%). After adjusting for covariates, +SGM/−REM and +SGM/+REM adolescents had significantly higher odds of past-year self-harm and suicide attempts than −SGM/+REM adolescents. Discussion: Findings point to high risk for self-harm in all four groups and heightened risks of suicide attempts and self-harm among incarcerated SGM adolescents, regardless of REM status, emphasizing the need for focused public mental health responses. Conclusions: SGM status is a key risk marker for poor mental health among incarcerated adolescents. This underscores the need for interventions—both before and during incarceration—that are culturally responsive and tailored to the unique, intersectional challenges SGM adolescents face across REM statuses.
Balamurugan et al. (Thu,) studied this question.