There has been an Associated Press story going around in the wake of Packer's talk. You can get the full story here (among other places):

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/07/2289296/utah-gay-activists-protest-mormon.html

One of the big quotes in the article that caught my eye claims the following:

"A 2009 study in the medical journal Pediatrics also found that telling teens they can change their orientation often increases the likelihood of suicide."

This is a huge claim and drives right at the core of Boyd Packer's talk from last week. However, I did do a search through the Pediatrics journal for 2009 and cannot for the life of me find the source for this statement. I did find one article that talks about suicide rates increasing due to negative family reaction to coming out, but not something this specific (telling a gay they can change makes increases suicide likelihood).

I have no doubt that the statement is correct, but am looking for a solid citation that I can keep around for the next time I get into a debate regarding the damaging effects of the type of hate speech that people like Packer give. Whether or not it comes from the pediatrics journal is irrelevant to me, but does anybody have any solid source (journal paper or equivalent) that establishes this?

Thanks!

I think this is the study:

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/123/1/346

Thanks for this. This is the same study that I found when I looked last week. It certainly does make the case that negative family reaction to coming out can lead to numerous health problems, including suicide.

However, in reading the article, I could not find a specific statement regarding parents suggesting change therapy as increasing suicide likelihood. Am I just missing this?

I think you would need to purchase the whole study, and look at the full range of questions asked, in order to find this out. You could also email the newspaper and ask them for their source.

Since telling someone there is something wrong with them that needs to be changed is a "negative family reaction", then it can lead to "numerous health problems, including suicide" just like any other "negative family reaction"

I certainly don't dispute the claim. In the study, they rated the level of family rejection with 51 different questions. A score of 51 was the highest level of rejection that could be experienced, and they showed that, as rejection increased, likelihood of suicide along with many other negative health effects goes up considerably.

My guess is that the "you can change" thing is part of 51 questions, though I have not been able to confirm this. I have emailed one of the authors to ask about this.

Basically, I want to be able to take a study like this and be able to argue with LDS friends/family specifically that telling kids that they can change does very real harm to them. If I send this paper, though, I am going to get a maddening "nuh-uh" from any Mormon who doesn't want to admit that there is a problem. In their mind, telling someone that they can change is not rejection, but simply a statement of Mormon-revealed reality and doesn't contribute negatively to anyone. People like Packer, says the Mormon, are simply proclaiming the gospel, and so nobody could ever be realistically harmed. (Seriously, my blood is boiling as I'm typing this).

This is why I want to have something very specific and in no way ambiguous. The APA has categorically stated that change therapy is totally unproven, but I want to go further and so that there is real harm to the kind of attitude portrayed in Packer's talk.

However, I would also think that suggesting to a gay person that they could change their sexual orientation would be among the negative reactions from family and friends. While I didn't see it specifically stated, I think it would be logical to infer that this reaction would be a negative one.