Depression and suicidal thoughts in bisexual teens and young adults
Official title: Bisexual adolescents' and young adults' risk for depression and suicidal ideation: Developmental trajectories, risk and protective factors, and underlying mechanisms
Funded at Ohio State University · NIH-11370848 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project follows bisexual adolescents and young adults to learn how depression and suicidal thoughts change over time and what raises or lowers risk.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ohio State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Columbus, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | January 1, 2025 |
| Project end | April 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $691,406 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH138335-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11370848 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adolescents and young adults who identify as bisexual (roughly ages 12–21), especially those willing to complete repeated surveys and share information about mood, stress, and supports.
✕Less likely to help
People who do not identify as bisexual or who are well outside the targeted age range are not the focus and are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this specific work.
What this research studies
You would be followed over time with repeated questionnaires and possibly brief interviews to track mood and thoughts of suicide from adolescence into young adulthood. The team will look for different patterns or "trajectories" of depression and suicidal thinking and identify factors that make those patterns more or less likely, such as stress, social support, or identity-related experiences. The work purposely includes people of color and females to understand unique influences in groups that are more likely to identify as bisexual. The study uses statistical modeling of these repeated measures to find when risk peaks and who is most at risk so that future help can be better timed and targeted.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the project could pinpoint high-risk times and targets for interventions to better prevent or reduce depression and suicidal thoughts among bisexual youth.
How similar studies have gone: Most prior work has been cross-sectional and focused on adults, so longitudinal research focused specifically on bisexual adolescents and young adults is relatively novel even though prior studies document clear mental health disparities.
Where this research is happening
-
Ohio State University
Columbus, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Dyar, Christina — Ohio State University
- Study coordinator: Dyar, Christina
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.