Living between binaries: why do liminal youth have higher suicide risk?

Abstract While researchers, physicians, and public officials have highlighted rising rates of adolescent suicide, one group has been largely ignored in public discourse, intervention development, and research: liminal youth. Here, we bring attention to youth with identities outside binary race, ethnic, sexual orientation, or gender categorizations and develop a unified theory explaining their greater risk of suicide. Our work is grounded in the concept of liminality, and we draw on developmental theory regarding identity development, narrative identity, and belonging to detail the stressors experienced by liminal adolescents and their related intrapersonal costs that impede these developmental milestones. We aim to seed a new body of research on adolescent suicide prevention, mental health promotion, and developmental research, writ large, on liminal youth.