Surprise, surprise!
...It is not uncommon for researchers in gender medicine to exaggerate their findings and let allied media spin the rest. But in this case, the authors of the NHB study themselves promoted a narrative of cause and effect. “In this study,” wrote lead author Wilson Lee on LinkedIn, “we presented causal evidence that enacting state-level anti-transgender legislation increased suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary young people in the US.” Co-author Ronita Nath told CNN, “We’ve long known that the associations between anti-transgender policies and negative health outcomes for LGBTQ+ young people exist, but this is the first time any study has shown this causal relationship.”
Yet, in what has become routine in this research area, the NHB study’s findings and conclusions later crumbled under scientific reexamination. As a methodological criticism published (to its credit) in the NHB last month—over a year after the original study—shows, the observed elevation in suicide attempts came from a small sample (roughly 100 youth) in a single state (Idaho), at a time when that state’s “anti-transgender” laws were not even in effect. Further, the researchers did not properly control for confounding factors. (The Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine has published its own methodological analysis, which is worth reading.)...
No, the original's authors did not apologize, nor offer corrections.
1 comment:
Suicide attempts versus completions is an underappreciated metric too. Young women report a lot more suicidal ideation than young males; but they don't kill themselves nearly as often. People talk about it as 'cries for help,' but a young man who decides to kill himself does. It's not that hard, after all.
I've often wondered how that tracks into this discussion; whether ideation versus successful attempts diverges from or tracks physical sex. I would wager the latter.
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