No abstract

Sexual minority youth (youth who are attracted to the same sex or endorse a gay/lesbian/bisexual identity) report significantly higher rates of depression and suicidality than heterosexual youth. The minority stress hypothesis contends that the stigma and discrimination experienced by sexual minority youth create a hostile social environment that can lead to chronic stress and mental health problems. The present study used longitudinal mediation models to directly test sexual minority-specific victimization as a potential explanatory mechanism of the mental health disparities of sexual minority youth. One hundred ninety seven adolescents (14–19 years old; 70% female; 29% sexual minority) completed measures of sexual minority-specific victimization, depressive symptoms, and suicidality at two time points six months apart. Compared to heterosexual youth, sexual minority youth reported higher levels of sexual minority-specific victimization, depressive symptoms, and suicidality. Sexual minority-specific victimization significantly mediated the effect of sexual minority status on depressive symptoms and suicidality. The results support the minority stress hypothesis that targeted harassment and victimization are partly responsible for the higher levels of depressive symptoms and suicidality found in sexual minority youth. This research lends support to public policy initiatives that reduce bullying and hate crimes because reducing victimization can have a significant impact on the health and well-being of sexual minority youth.

This study tested the lower boundary of the dosage required to garner health benefits from written emotional expression. Participants wrote about either a personal trauma, a positive life experience, or a control topic for 2 minutes each day for 2 days. Emotion word usage in the essays was examined and physical health complaints were measured 4-6 weeks after the last writing session. Trauma and positive experience essays contained more emotional content than the control essays and such content was of a similar percentage to that demonstrated by past research. Both the trauma and the positive experience conditions reported fewer health complaints at follow-up than the control condition.

Sexual minority youth report higher rates of depression and suicidality than do heterosexual youth. Little is known, however, about whether these disparities continue as youth transition into young adulthood. The primary goals of this study were to describe and compare trajectories of adolescent depressive symptoms and suicidality among sexual minority and heterosexual youth, examine differences in depressive symptoms and suicidality trajectories across sexual orientation subgroups, and determine whether there are gender differences in these longitudinal disparities. Four waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were analyzed using latent curve modeling (N = 12,379; 53% female). Results showed that the rates of depressive symptoms and suicidality in early adolescence were higher among sexual minority youth than among heterosexual youth, and that these disparities persisted over time as participants transitioned into young adulthood. Consistent with previous cross-sectional studies, the observed longitudinal disparities were largest for females and for bisexually-identified youth. Sexual minority youth may benefit from childhood and early adolescent prevention and intervention programs.

Three studies examined the potential interactions of the experiential system and positive affect (PA) in predicting superstitious beliefs and sympathetic magic. In Study 1, experientiality and induced positive mood interacted to predict the emergence of belief in videos purporting to show unidentified flying objects or ghosts. In Study 2, naturally occurring PA interacted with experientiality to predict susceptibility to sympathetic magic, specifically difficulty in throwing darts at a picture of a baby (demonstrating the law of similarity). In Study 3, induced mood interacted with experientiality to predict sitting farther away from, and expressing less liking for, a partner who had stepped in excrement (demonstrating the law of contagion). Results are interpreted as indicating that PA promotes experiential processing. Implications for the psychology of nonrational beliefs and behaviors are discussed.