Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts Before Age 18: Demographic Correlates and Associations with Mental Health Conditions.

SOGICE experiences were reported at higher rates among certain demographic groups within the LGBTQ+ sample.

• Reports of SOGICE experiences were higher among those assigned male at birth compared with those assigned female at birth.
• Black participants reported higher rates of SOGICE compared with White participants.
• Transgender and gender-diverse participants reported higher rates of SOGICE compared with cisgender participants.
• The analytic sample consisted of 3023 LGBTQ+ adults with a mean age of 31.59 from a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2024 in North Carolina.

Lifetime SOGICE was associated with three out of nine mental health conditions in multivariate models.

• Mental health conditions examined included depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, gender dysphoria, eating disorder, nonsuicidal self-injury, suicidal thought, and suicide attempt.
• Multivariate regression models were used to test associations between SOGICE experiences and mental health conditions.
• Both bivariate and multivariate regression models were tested.
• The sample was drawn from a cross-sectional survey, limiting causal inference.

Experiencing SOGICE before age 18 was associated with higher odds of five out of nine mental health conditions in multivariate models.

• Pre-adulthood SOGICE was associated with more mental health conditions than lifetime SOGICE overall (five vs. three out of nine conditions).
• Mental health outcomes assessed included both past-year clinical conditions and past-2-week anxiety and depressive symptoms.
• The study specifically examined SOGICE experienced before age 18 as a distinct exposure variable from lifetime SOGICE.
• The findings suggest that SOGICE before adulthood carries a greater mental health burden than lifetime SOGICE exposure broadly.

The study assessed a broad range of mental health outcomes across the LGBTQ+ sample.

• Past-year mental health conditions assessed were: depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, gender dysphoria, eating disorder, nonsuicidal self-injury, suicidal thought, and suicide attempt.
• Past-2-week anxiety and depressive symptoms were also assessed as continuous outcomes.
• The sample included 3023 LGBTQ+ adults with a mean age of 31.59.
• Data were collected via a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2024 in North Carolina.

The authors conclude that findings reinforce professional and legislative calls to ban SOGICE practices.

• The authors state findings 'reinforce calls from professional organizations to end SOGICE due to its threat to LGBTQ+ well-being.'
• The authors explicitly support 'legislative efforts to ban such practices.'
• The study demonstrates that 'SOGICE experiences, particularly before adulthood, were associated with multiple severe mental health conditions.'
• The cross-sectional design was a limitation of the study, as it does not allow for causal conclusions.