Youth's Lives Every Day
The Trevor Project published findings from its first-ever longitudinal study, following 1,600+ LGBTQ+ youth from September 2023 through March 2025
October 16, 2025 – The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people, published findings from the organization’s first-ever longitudinal study, Project SPARK Interim Report: A Longitudinal Study of Risk and Protective Factors in LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health.
The report released today includes results from the first year of data collection, or first three waves of the study that followed 1,689 LGBTQ+ youth (ages 13-24) across the United States from September 2023 to March 2025, collecting data every six months.
Analyses shed light on how specific risk and protective factors shaped LGBTQ+ youth mental health over time. After taking into account confounders, the study found that experiences such as discrimination, physical threats, and inability to meet basic needs led to higher odds of later anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts, while supportive actions from family, friends, and affirming environments improved mental health and suicide risk over time.
“While many of the findings in this study are devastating, they are not surprising. LGBTQ+ young people in this country continue to face elevated levels of stigma and political rhetoric, which take a serious toll on their mental health and well-being,” said Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project. “For the first time in our organization’s history, our own research team has released a study that follows a sample of LGBTQ+ young people over an extended period of time. This allows us to clearly and unequivocally document what we know to be true: the manner in which LGBTQ+ youth are treated in this country harms their health and risks their lives, and it is only getting worse. I hope that lawmakers, community leaders, and youth-serving professionals take stock of these research findings, and join our efforts to support the health and safety of LGBTQ+ young people across the country.”
The Project SPARK Interim Report examined risk factors and protective factors that impact participants’ mental health. In the first year of data collection and analysis for the study, mental health distress increased substantially. After one year:
- LGBTQ+ youth reporting recent anxiety symptoms rose from 57% to 68%
- LGBTQ+ youth reporting depressive symptoms climbed from 48% to 54%
- LGBTQ+ youth reporting suicidal ideation grew from 41% to 47%
While past-year suicide attempts among the sample declined from 11% to 7%, the rate observed remains higher than national estimates for cisgender heterosexual youth. Transgender and nonbinary (TGNB) youth and participants ages 13 to 17 reported the poorest mental health outcomes and represented the highest risk for suicide. TGNB youth were nearly twice as likely to report anxiety (70% vs. 42%) and suicidal ideation (53% vs. 28%) compared to cisgender peers, a pattern that persisted a year later.
LGBTQ+ youth reported widespread experiences of victimization and discrimination, both at the start of the data collection period, and one year later. An estimated one-third of participants reported being physically harassed or threatened because of their sexual orientation, and two-fifths of transgender and nonbinary respondents said they were physically harassed or threatened because of their gender identity. Approximately 55% of participants reported being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation, and an estimated 66% of transgender and nonbinary respondents experienced discrimination based on their gender identity. These rates remained consistent both at the onset of data collection, and one year later.
The data indicate that conversion therapy – or dangerous, unethical practices that attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity – remains a significant and harmful experience for LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S. In the first year of the study, reports of conversion therapy rose sharply: After one year, reports of being threatened with conversion therapy doubled from 11% to 22%, and exposure to these practices climbed from 9% to 15%.
“This report provides one of the first, and only, national-scale portraits of LGBTQ+ youth mental health in the U.S. that follows the same young people over time, rather than offering a one-time snapshot of their experiences,” said Dr. Ronita Nath, Vice President of Research at The Trevor Project. “By linking repeated measures of risk and protection to later anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation, the study moves beyond prevalence to demonstrate which experiences precede changes in health. The size and diversity of this cohort of participants strengthens the relevance of our findings, and longitudinal evidence like this is essential for informing interventions that effectively support and improve mental health outcomes among LGBTQ+ youth.”
The study uncovered a number of findings related to protective factors for LGBTQ+ youth. Over the course of one year, the percentage of LGBTQ+ youth who reported feeling supported at school rose from 53% to 58%. Participants also reported significantly higher rates of seeking help during suicidal crises; the proportion of LGBTQ+ youth who turned to a mental health professional during a crisis doubled from 32% to 64% after one year. Seeking support from friends also jumped from 45% to 73% over the course of one year.
The findings of this study are intended for families, educators, healthcare providers, policymakers, and community organizations seeking to support LGBTQ+ youth. As the study continues, future analyses will explore long-term trends and causal relationships to dive deeper into risk and protective factors and their impact on participants. These ongoing data collection and analysis efforts are vital for informing evidence-based policy and designing interventions that support and protect the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ+ young people nationwide.
The study was reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board. To view the study’s methodology in full, visit www.thetrevorproject.org/project-spark-interim-report-a-longitudinal-study.
If you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678.
