COVID-19-Related Household Job Loss and Mental Health in a Nationwide United States Sample of Sexual Minority Adolescents.

Household job loss during COVID-19 constitutes a public health crisis. Research suggests associations between household job loss, harsher parenting practices, and mental health challenges in the general population. Sexual minority adolescents (SMA) face high rates of family stress and rejection, but evidence linking household job loss to SMA mental health is lacking. This study evaluated associations between household job loss, family rejection, and mental health with a national sample of SMA who were sheltering in place with families during the pandemic. SMA from an ongoing prospective study completed an online questionnaire between May 13-31, 2020. It was hypothesized that household job loss during the pandemic would be associated with elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms through family rejection. Household job loss during the pandemic was indirectly associated with SMA mental health through family rejection. These findings highlight how socioeconomic change and policy carry implications for SMA health.

Resilience among LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Research on the experiences of LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care has mainly focused on these youth's adversities and the resulting negative impact on their wellbeing. Little is known about the ways through which LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care are resilient to these adversities. To date, a review study on resilience in this population is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To map and synthesize the existing research on resilience among LGBTQIA+ children and youth in out-of-home care. Specific goals were to summarize and analyze 1) the general characteristics of the existing studies, and 2) the resilience resources found at the individual, relational, sociocultural, and ecological levels. METHODS: We carried out a scoping review examining empirical published academic literature. RESULTS: The 14 studies included in this scoping review indicated that resilience studies among LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care are mainly qualitative, cross-sectional, US-based, and were centered on gay youth. Studies suggested that resilience resources were mostly focused at the socio/relational level (e.g., foster family acceptance) with fewer studies at the individual (e.g., LGBTQ positive identity), and community levels (e.g., LGBTQ centers). Importantly, no studies explored the interaction of resilience resources across these different domains. CONCLUSIONS: Resilience among LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care remains understudied and the results of this scoping review point to specific research gaps. Recommendations are provided for research, practice, and policy.

Challenges to Identity Integration Indirectly Link Experiences of Heterosexist and Racist Discrimination to Lower Waking Salivary Cortisol in Sexually Diverse Latinx Emerging Adults.

Heterosexist and racist discrimination may adversely impact neurobiological processes implicated in the physical and psychosocial well-being of sexually diverse Latinx people. Yet, little is known about how experiences of both heterosexist and racist discrimination are associated with adrenocortical and psychological functioning in groups of people with multiply marginalized social group identities. Through the application of the intersectionality, minority stress, and allostatic load frameworks, it was hypothesized that experiences of heterosexist and racist discrimination would be associated with disruptions to diurnal salivary cortisol patterns and challenges to identity integration. A group of sexually diverse (self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer) Latinx emerging adults (N = 51; ages 18-29, M = 24.06 years; SD = 2.73) provided saliva samples and completed a series of questionnaires during a four-day testing protocol. Heterosexist and racist discrimination were both positively associated with challenges to identity integration. Challenges to identity integration, in turn, were associated with lower intercepts of diurnal cortisol slopes, and heterosexist and racist discrimination were indirectly associated with lower cortisol intercepts via challenges to identity integration. These findings suggest that experiences of heterosexist and racist discrimination may interconnect by challenging sexual and ethnic/racial identity integration and disrupting adaptive adrenocortical regulation among sexually diverse Latinx emerging adults.

Discrepancies Between Retrospective and Actual Self-Reports of Peer Victimization Six Years Earlier.

Retrospective peer victimization reports may be inaccurate. With an ethnically and sexually diverse sample, this study compared adolescents' self-reported peer victimization in 6th grade to their own retrospective reports of 6th-grade victimization when they were in the 12th grade, controlling for past and current adjustment. Overall, 12th graders' retrospective victimization reports correlated with their own earlier 6th-grade self-reports and there was a general tendency to underreport retrospectively. Underreporters were distinguished by worse past 6th-grade adjustment, whereas overreporters were distinguished by worse current (12th-grade) adjustment. Higher current depressive symptoms and social anxiety, and lower current self-worth may be important control variables when collecting retrospective reports of victimization because current adjustment may augment participants' recollection of past experiences.