Dating violence during adolescence negatively influences concurrent psychosocial functioning, and has been linked with an increased likelihood of later intimate partner violence. Identifying who is most vulnerable for this negative outcome can inform the development of intervention practices addressing this problem. The two goals of this study were to assess variations in the prevalence of dating violence across different measures of sexual minority status (e.g., sexual minority identity or same-sex sexual behavior), and to assess whether this association was mediated by bullying, the number of sexual partners, binge drinking or aggressive behaviors. These goals were assessed by employing the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N = 12,984), a regionally representative sample of youth ages 14-18. In this sample, a total of 540 girls and 323 boys reported a non-heterosexual identity, and 429 girls and 230 boys reported having had one or more same-sex sexual partners. The results generally supported a higher prevalence of dating violence among sexual minority youth. This vulnerability varied considerably across gender, sexual minority identity and the gender of sexual partners, but generally persisted when accounting for the mediating variables. The findings support investigating dating violence as a mechanism in the disparities between sexual minority and heterosexual youth, and the importance of addressing sexual minority youth specifically in interventions targeting dating violence.

The well-documented higher rates of depression among sexual minority youth are increasingly viewed by developmentalists as a byproduct of the stigmatization of sexual minority status in American society and of the negative impact this stigma has on the processes associated with depression. This study attempted to spur future research by testing Hatzenbuehler’s (2009) psychological mediation framework to investigate the ways in which peer harassment related to sexuality puts young people at risk by influencing the cognitive, social, and regulatory factors associated with depression. Analyses of 15 year olds in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development revealed that sexual minority status was largely associated with depressive outcomes via harassment, which was subsequently associated with depression via cognitive and social factors. Results point to various avenues for exploring the importance of the social world and self-concept for the outcomes of sexual minority adolescents in the future.

The visibility of a stigmatized identity is central in determining how individuals experience that identity. Sexual minority status (e.g., identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual) has traditionally been identified as a concealable stigma, compared with race/ethnicity or physical disability status. This conceptualization fails to recognize, however, the strong link between sexual minority status and a visible stigma: gender nonconformity. Gender nonconformity, or the perception that an individual fails to conform to gendered norms of behavior and appearance, is strongly stigmatized, and is popularly associated with sexual minority status. The hypothesis that harassment due to gender nonconformity mediates the association between sexual minority status and depressive symptoms was tested. Heterosexual and sexual minority-identified college and university students (N = 251) completed questionnaires regarding their sexual minority identity, experiences of harassment due to gender nonconformity, harassment due to sexual minority status, and depressive symptoms. A mediational model was supported, in which the association between sexual minority identity and depressive symptoms occurred via harassment due to gender nonconformity. Findings highlight harassment due to gender nonconformity as a possible mechanism for exploring variability in depressive symptoms among sexual minorities.

Objectives. We investigated how state-level firearms legislation is associated with firearm ownership and storage among families with preschool-aged children. Methods. Using 2005 nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n = 8100), we conducted multinomial regression models to examine the associations between state-level firearms legislation generally, child access prevention (CAP) firearms legislation specifically, and parental firearm ownership and storage safety practices. Results. Overall, 8% of families with children aged 4 years living in states with stronger firearm laws and CAP laws owned firearms compared with 24% of families in states with weaker firearm laws and no CAP laws. Storage behaviors of firearm owners differed minimally across legislative contexts. When we controlled for family- and state-level characteristics, we found that firearm legislation and CAP laws interacted to predict ownership and storage behaviors, with unsafe storage least likely among families in states with both CAP laws and stronger firearm legislation. Conclusions. Broader firearm legislation is linked with the efficacy of child-specific legislation in promoting responsible firearm ownership.

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