Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among LGBTQ Youth: Meta-Analyses and a Systematic Review.

Suicide continues to be the second-leading cause of death for all youths aged 15-24. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth are at a significantly higher risk for suicidal thoughts or behaviors (STB). Establishing and understanding correlates of STB among LGBTQ youth is one important step toward enhancing prevention, intervention, and research efforts. To synthesize current knowledge on suicide among LGBTQ youth, the present meta-analyses offer results from 44 studies over the past 20 years. Two-hundred and thirty-four correlation coefficient effect sizes were calculated and categorized. To be included, the study had to quantitatively examine correlates of STB among LGBTQ youth. A number of social-science databases were used to examine the existing published research. Results illustrated the variability among correlates of STB as well as substantial limitations in the extant literature. There was a heterogeneity of effect sizes, a lack of novel correlates, a focus on risk, a dearth of theoretically driven designs, moderate publication bias, a paucity of developmentally driven analyses, and a dearth of research with transgender youth.

Homophobic bullying victimization trajectories: The roles of perpetration, sex assigned at birth, and sexuality.

There is a paucity of research on developmental trajectories of bias-based aggression. We examined homophobic bullying victimization trajectories among high school students (N = 3,064; M age = 13.67; Girls = 50.2%) and how these developmental pathways vary as a function of factors like homophobic bullying perpetration, sex assigned at birth, and sexuality. Using data from a 3-wave longitudinal investigation over a 2-year period, we utilized latent growth mixture modeling to explore the aforementioned trajectories. Findings suggested that there were three distinct classes characterized by high initial rates and declines over time, low initial rates, and increases over time, and low, stable, rate across time. Furthermore, results indicated that homophobic bullying perpetration, sex assigned at birth, and sexuality all predicted class membership.

Longitudinal associations between features of toxic masculinity and bystander willingness to intervene in bullying among middle school boys.

Bystander intervention (i.e., a third party decides to defend a victim when witnessing a conflict) has been identified as an effective strategy to resolve bullying incidents (O'Connell, Pepler, & Craig, 1999). Researchers suggest that student willingness to intervene (WTI) is a robust predictor of bystander intervention (Nickerson, Aloe, Livingston, & Feeley, 2014). Toxic masculinity has been defined as "the constellation of socially regressive [masculine] traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia, and wanton violence" (Kupers, 2005, p. 71). Though some aspects of toxic masculinity (e.g., low empathy) have received some empirical attention regarding their role in determining prosocial behavior, many aspects of toxic masculinity have not. Little research has examined how constructs such as attitudes surrounding bullying and sexual harassment, social dominance orientation, and homophobic bullying are related to longitudinal changes in WTI across adolescence. The present study uses growth mixture modeling (GMM) to examine the heterogeneity of WTI among middle school boys in the Midwest (N = 805). Students were classified into three profiles of WTI over time: a "stable high" class (70.9%), a "decreasing" class (22%), and a "stable low" class (7.1%). When compared with the "stable high" class, students with higher levels of dominance and pro-bullying attitudes were associated with an 11% (AOR = 1.11, 95% CI [1.01-1.21] and a 55% (AOR = 1.55, 95% CI [1.05-2.31] increase in the odds of being in the "decreasing" class, respectively. Youth who reported higher rates of homophobic name calling perpetration had a 16% (AOR = 1.16, 95% CI [1.02-1.34] increase in the odds of being in the stable low class compared to the stable high class. Additionally, both homophobic name calling victimization and empathy were associated with a 17% (AOR = 0.83, 95% CI [0.70-0.98] and 18% (AOR = 0.82, 95% CI [0.69-0.98] lower odds of being in the stable low class. The findings support the theoretical framework which posits that features of toxic masculinity are associated with less WTI and thus carry implications for intervention design (Carlson, 2008; Leone et al., 2016).

Understanding Intersectionality and Resiliency among Transgender Adolescents: Exploring Pathways among Peer Victimization, School Belonging, and Drug Use.

Transgender youth experience elevated levels of victimization and may therefore report greater drug use than their cisgender peers, yet little is known about protective factors like school belonging that may mediate this relationship. Further, scant research has explored the experiences of youth at the intersection of transgender identity and youth of color status or low socioeconomic status, especially with respect to these multiple minority statuses’ associations with peer victimization, drug use, and school belonging. Using data from the California Healthy Kids Survey, the current study employs structural equation modeling to explore the relationships among school belonging, peer victimization, and drug use for transgender youth. Findings indicate that school belonging does mediate the pathway between peer victimization and drug use for transgender youth and that although youth of color experience greater victimization, they do not engage in greater drug use than their white transgender peers. Based on these results, those concerned with the healthy futures of transgender youth should advocate for more open and affirming school climates that engender a sense of belonging and treat transgender youth with dignity and fairness.

Sexual harassment victimization, school belonging, and depressive symptoms among LGBTQ adolescents: Temporal insights.

Peer victimization and the associated poor outcomes among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth have been the focus of countless studies. School climate is a factor that has garnered significant attention. Perceptions of school contexts may even be mechanisms that define how victimization relates to poor outcomes. However, there is a lack of rigorous scholarship that could demonstrate directionality and therefore further augment our understanding of these relations. Specifically, it is not clear if victimization is strictly an antecedent to mental health issues like depressive symptoms. This longitudinal study examined the associations among sexual harassment victimization, school belonging, and depressive symptoms among LGBTQ high school students (n = 404). Self-report measures were completed at 3 time points across 3 school years in 6 Midwest high schools. Structural equation modeling indicated that peer victimization was an antecedent to depressive symptoms, and that school belonging mediated the association. Implications and future directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Neighborhood-level associations with HIV infection among young men who have sex with men in Chicago.

The rising incidence of HIV infection among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) is a substantial public health concern. Traditional research on HIV among YMSM has focused largely on individual-level predictors and infrequently accounts for contextual or neighborhood-level factors such as ethnic composition and socioeconomic status. This study used neighborhood-level data from the US Census and other public sources, and individual-level data from a longitudinal cohort of YMSM in Chicago (Crew 450). Of the original 450 YMSM in the cohort, 376 reported living in Chicago (83.6 %) and were included in the analytic sample. A clustering approach was used to group the 77 community areas together by common characteristics, resulting in the identification of 11 distinct clusters. An unconditional model of individual HIV status indicated a significant amount of variance existed between neighborhood clusters (χ (2) = 21.66; p = 0.006). When individual-level variables were added to the model, only having an HIV-positive sex partner (OR = 6.41; CI 2.40, 17.1) and engaging in exchange sex in the past 6 months (OR = 3.25; 95 % CI 1.33, 7.93) were significant predictors of HIV status. Clusters with higher Walk Scores were less likely to contain HIV-positive individuals (OR = 0.94; 95 % CI 0.90, 0.98). Conversely, clusters with a larger proportion of vacant buildings were more likely to contain HIV-positive individuals (OR = 1.19; 95 % CI 1.07, 1.33). Future research among YMSM needs to investigate the mechanisms by which neighborhood of residence might influence engagement in risk behaviors or acquisition of HIV.