2024 México National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People

The content and methodology for the 2024 México National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People were approved by an independent Institutional Review Board in the United States.

A quantitative cross-sectional design was used to collect data through an online survey platform between June 29, 2023 and July 24, 2023. A sample of individuals aged 13 to 24 who resided in México was recruited via targeted ads on social media. No recruitment advertisements were posted onto The Trevor Project’s website or social media accounts. Respondents were defined as being LGBTQ+ if they identified with a sexual orientation other than heterosexual, a gender identity other than cisgender, or both. Recruitment was monitored to ensure adequate sample sizes with respect to age, region, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Qualified respondents completed a secure online questionnaire that included a maximum of 93 questions. Questions on considering and attempting suicide were taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (Johns et al., 2019; Johns et al., 2020). Questions about engaging in self-harm were taken from the Spanish Self-Harm Questionnaire and an adaptation of the Inventory of Statements About Self-injury (ISAS: Castro et al., 2016; Garcia et al., 2015). Questions regarding anxiety and depression were taken from the GAD-2 and PHQ-2, respectively (Lowe et al., 2005; Lowe et al., 2008). Questions surrounding motivations for suicide were taken from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (2021). Each question related to mental health and suicide was preceded by a message stating, “If at any time you need to talk to someone about your mental health or thoughts of suicide, please contact:” (“Si en algún momento necesitas hablar con alguien sobre tu salud mental o pensamientos suicidas, llama al:”), with a list of México-based, LGBTQ+ affirming resources, including The Trevor Project México. Yaaj Transformando tu Vida A.C. (Yaaj México) facilitated a youth advisory group which provided feedback on survey design, recruitment methodology, and recruitment advertisements. The Asociación por las Infancias Transgénero A.C. (Infancias Trans) provided their feedback and expertise on survey items and language related to trans and nonbinary young people.

There were 26,076 respondents who consented to start the survey, whom we identified as unique respondents based on reported age, place of residence, sex assigned at birth, gender, sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity. Of those, 972 were ineligible based on age (younger than 13 or older than 24 years) and country of residence (i.e., outside of México). An additional 6,148 respondents were pathed out, or excluded, for not meeting demographic requirements, such as not completing the demographic questions on sexual orientation and gender identity and not being LGBTQ+. An additional 5,805 were removed for either not making it to or passing the validity question, a question designed to ensure the authenticity of the respondents. Finally, 2,516 respondents were excluded for taking the survey multiple times. This resulted in an eligible sample of 10,635 LGBTQ+ young people ages 13-24 in México. Chi-square tests were used to examine differences between groups. Comparisons are statistically significant at p < 0.05 unless otherwise noted, which means there was a < 5% likelihood of the results occurring by chance.

This research uses LGBTQ+ as an umbrella term for all non-cisgender and non-heterosexual young people. “Trans and nonbinary” is used as an umbrella term for all non-cisgender young people. This includes trans and nonbinary young people as well as gender identities beyond the binary (e.g., genderqueer, agender, genderfluid, gender neutral, bigender).

Geographic regions are coded as follows: Northwest (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa, Sonora), Northeast (Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas), West (Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán), East (Puebla, Veracruz, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo), North Central (Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Querétaro), South Central (Morelos, Estado de México, Ciudad de México), Southwest (Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Región Sureste), Southeast (Tabasco, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Yucatán).

Race categories are coded as follows: Mestiza/o/e, White, Black/Afro-descendant [two categories], Indigenous, Mixed, Another race [includes Asian & Middle Eastern], and I don’t know.