Russell B. Toomey

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adolescent School Victimization: Implications for Young Adult Health and Adjustment

BACKGROUND Adolescent school victimization due to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) status is commonplace, and is associated with compromised health and adjustment. Few studies have examined the long-term implications of LGBT school victimization for young adult adjustment. We examine the association between reports of LGBT school victimization and young adult psychosocial health and risk behavior. METHODS The young adult survey from the Family Acceptance Project included 245 LGBT young adults between the ages of 21 and 25 years, with an equal proportion of Latino and non-Latino White respondents. A 10-item retrospective scale assessed school victimization due to actual or perceived LGBT identity between the ages of 13 and 19 years. Multiple regression was used to test the association between LGBT school victimization and young adult depression, suicidal ideation, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and social integration, while controlling for background characteristics. Logistic regression was used to examine young adult suicide attempts, clinical levels of depression, heavy drinking and substance use problems, sexually transmitted disease (STD) diagnoses, and self-reported HIV risk. RESULTS Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-related school victimization is strongly linked to young adult mental health and risk for STDs and HIV; there is no strong association with substance use or abuse. Elevated levels of depression and suicidal ideation among males can be explained by their high rates of LGBT school victimization. CONCLUSIONS Reducing LGBT-related school victimization will likely result in significant long-term health gains and will reduce health disparities for LGBT people. Reducing the dramatic disparities for LGBT youth should be educational and public health priorities.

Gender-nonconforming lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth: school victimization and young adult psychosocial adjustment.

Past research documents that both adolescent gender nonconformity and the experience of school victimization are associated with high rates of negative psychosocial adjustment. Using data from the Family Acceptance Projects young adult survey, we examined associations among retrospective reports of adolescent gender nonconformity and adolescent school victimization due to perceived or actual lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) status, along with current reports of life satisfaction and depression. The participants included 245 LGBT young adults ranging in age from 21 to 25 years. Using structural equation modeling, we found that victimization due to perceived or actual LGBT status fully mediates the association between adolescent gender nonconformity and young adult psychosocial adjustment (i.e., life satisfaction and depression). Implications are addressed, including specific strategies that schools can implement to provide safer environments for gender-nonconforming LGBT students.

Associations among Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide in High School Students.

This study examined associations among depression, suicidal behaviors, and bullying and victimization experiences in 1491 high school students using data from the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Results demonstrated that depression mediated the association between bullying/victimization and suicide attempts, but differently for males and females. Specifically, depression mediated the link between traditional victimization and suicide attempts similarly across gender, whereas depression mediated the link between cyber victimization and suicide attempts only for females. Similarly, depression mediated the link between traditional bullying and suicide attempts for females only. Depression did not mediate the link between cyberbullying and suicide attempts for either gender. Implications of the findings are discussed, including the importance of greater detection of depression among students involved in bullying, and the need for a suicide prevention and intervention component in anti-bullying programs. Findings suggest that bullying prevention efforts be extended from middle school students to include high school students.

High School Gay–Straight Alliances (GSAs) and Young Adult Well-Being: An Examination of GSA Presence, Participation, and Perceived Effectiveness

Gay–Straight Alliances (GSAs) are student-led, school-based clubs that aim to provide a safe environment in the school context for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, as well as their straight allies. The present study examines the potential for GSAs to support positive youth development and to reduce associations among LGBT-specific school victimization and negative young adult well-being. The sample includes 245 LGBT young adults, ages 21–25, who retrospectively reported on the presence of a GSA in their high school, their participation in their schools GSA, and their perceptions of whether or not their GSA was effective in improving school safety. Findings revealed that the presence of a GSA, participation in a GSA, and perceived GSA effectiveness in promoting school safety were differentially associated with young adult well-being and, in some cases, buffered the negative association between LGBT-specific school victimization and well-being. Implications for future research and schools are discussed.

Men’s sexual orientation and suicide: Evidence for U.S. adolescent-specific risk

There is strong consensus in the research literature that adolescent and adult men who report same-sex sexual orientations, identities, and behaviors are at higher risk for suicide. Recent studies of general adolescent suicide risk have identified developmental trajectories that peak during the teenage years. Because the adolescent years are characterized by the development and heightened awareness of gender roles and sexual scripts closely tied to dominant cultural ideals of masculinity and heterosexuality, an adolescent-focused developmental trajectory for suicide risk might be particularly relevant for males with adolescent same-sex sexual orientations. We provide the first prospective examination of adolescent-specific risk for suicidality based on adolescent same-sex sexual orientation using data from the United States, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Tracing suicide ideation and attempts across four assessments from adolescence (Wave 1 average age 15.3 years) to young adulthood (Wave 4 average age 28.2), we documented that the risk for suicidal thoughts and attempts for adolescent same-sex attracted males is developmental in nature. Specifically, the risk for suicidal thoughts and attempts for males with same-sex attractions is largely limited to the adolescent years. These results offer new insights for suicide prevention and intervention for male adolescents and adults with same-sex sexual orientations.

The Role of Sexual Orientation in School-Based Victimization A Meta-Analysis

School-based victimization is associated with poorer developmental, academic, and health outcomes. This meta-analytic review compared the mean levels of school-based victimization experienced by sexual minority youth to those of heterosexual youth, and examined moderators of this difference. Results from 18 independent studies (N = 56,752 participants) suggest that sexual minority youth experience moderately higher levels of school-based victimization compared to heterosexual youth (d = 0.33). This effect varied by two study characteristics: the average effect size increased over time and was larger in studies that had a greater proportion of male participants. Results highlight the need for future research on school-based victimization to include measures of sexual orientation and for interventions to include a component that addresses sexual orientation.

Gay-Straight Alliances, Social Justice Involvement, and School Victimization of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Youth: Implications for School Well-Being and Plans to Vote.

Few studies have investigated school-based, positive development for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) youth, despite knowledge of their heightened negative school experiences compared to heterosexual youth (e.g., school victimization). This study examines associations among participation in Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA)–related social justice activities, GSA presence, and GSA membership with victimization based on sexual orientation and school-based well-being (i.e., school safety, school belongingness, grade point average [GPA]) and future plans to vote. Using data from the Preventing School Harassment Study, a survey of 230 LGBQ students in 7th through 12th grades, the study finds that participation in GSA-related social justice activities and the presence of a GSA are positively associated with school belongingness and GPA. GSA membership is also positively associated with school belongingness. However, moderation analyses suggest that the positive benefits of GSA-related social justice involvement and the presence of a GSA dissipate at high levels of school victimization. Implications for schools are discussed.

Peers’ Perceptions of Gender Nonconformity Associations With Overt and Relational Peer Victimization and Aggression in Early Adolescence

The current study used reports from 318 early adolescents to examine the associations of peer-reported gender nonconformity with peer- and self-reported overt and relational victimization and aggression, and possible sex differences in these associations. Multiple-group structural equation modeling revealed that higher levels of peer-reported gender nonconformity were associated with higher self- and peer-reports of overt and relational victimization and aggression among males and females. The association between peer-reported gender nonconformity and peer-reported overt aggression was moderated by participant sex, such that the association was stronger for females compared to males. Results suggest that perceived gender nonconformity is associated with problematic peer relations, especially among females, in early adolescence and implications of these associations are discussed.

Ethnic Identity Development and Ethnic Discrimination: Examining Longitudinal Associations with Adjustment for Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers

Few studies examine normative developmental processes among teenage mothers. Framed from a risk and resilience perspective, this prospective study examined the potential for ethnic identity status (e.g., diffuse, achieved), a normative developmental task during adolescence, to buffer the detrimental effects of discrimination on later adjustment and self-esteem in a sample of 204 Mexican-origin adolescent mothers. Ethnic discrimination was associated with increases in depressive symptoms and decreases in self-esteem over time, regardless of ethnic identity status. However, ethnic discrimination was only associated with increases in engagement in risky behavior among diffuse adolescents, suggesting that achieved or foreclosed identities buffered the risk of ethnic discrimination on later risky behavior. Findings suggest that ethnic identity resolution (i.e., the component shared by those in foreclosed and achieved statuses) may be a key cultural factor to include in prevention and intervention efforts aimed to reduce the negative effects of ethnic discrimination on later externalizing problems.

Risk and Protective Factors for Suicidal Thoughts Among Sexual Minority Youth: Evidence from the Add Health Study

Sexual minority youth are at greater risk for suicidal thoughts compared to heterosexual youth: Directions for prevention and intervention are urgently needed. Few studies have examined a broad range of risk and protective factors that may explain this disparate risk. This study utilized the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine which protective and risk factors for suicidal thoughts behaved distinctly in sexual minority adolescents compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Although many risk factors did not differ for heterosexual and sexual minority adolescents, we found several that were statistically significant for predicting later suicidal thoughts for sexual minorities: personal and friends’ school connections, friendship activities, and maternal caring.