Differences in Adolescent Experiences of Polyvictimization and Suicide Risk by Sexual Minority Status

Johns, Michelle M.; Lowry, Richard; Hipp, Tracy N.; Robin, Leah; Shafir, Shira

doi:10.1111/jora.12595

Cited by 19 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…On the other hand, poly-victimization-the experience of multiple kinds of victimization-has shown to have a significant effect on emotional impact; it is also related to trauma symptoms (Felix et al, 2009;Mitchell et al, 2020). However, the majority of poly-victimization studies either include other victimization types unrelated to bullying (e.g., Johns et al, 2021;Sterzing et al, 2019) or refer to general bullying (Espelage et al, 2016); they fail to cover homophobic and bullying victimization together.…”

Section: Emotional Impact and Consequences Of Homophobic Verbal And Bullying Victimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Homophobic Verbal and Bullying Victimization: Overlap and Emotional Impact

2021

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Introduction A relationship between homophobic verbal and bullying victimization has been established in the scientific literature, yet its findings remain debated. Similarly, the emotional impact of these phenomena may cross over, although not enough evidence is available to confirm this hypothesis. The study sought to examine this overlap of phenomena as well as their emotional impact, both independently and jointly, in a community-based school sample of adolescents with varying sexual orientations. Methods A total of 2089 Spanish students aged 11 to 18 years (M = 13.68, SD = 1.31) completed self-report measures assessing homophobic verbal and bullying victimization, sexual orientation, and emotional impact during 2017. Results Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents reported greater homophobic verbal and bullying victimization than their non-LGB peers. No differences were found in emotional impact based on sexual orientation or gender. However, differences were found for victimization type, with LGB youth overrepresented in the poly-victim group. A mediation effect of homophobic verbal victimization was observed between bullying victimization and negative emotional impact. Conclusions LGB students more frequently experience more types of victimization than their non-LGB peers. Homophobic victimization amplifies the likely emotional impact of bullying victimization, which should be considered in prevention programs and psychological interventions. Policy Implications These findings highlight the importance of sexual diversity in the study of bullying behavior. It is also identified as a key area when developing prevention programs aimed at eradicating this type of violence from our schools.

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Section: Emotional Impact and Consequences Of Homophobic Verbal And Bullying Victimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Homophobic Verbal and Bullying Victimization: Overlap and Emotional Impact

2021

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“…Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020), and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth are at significantly greater risk for attempting suicide compared to their non‐LGBTQ peers (Johns et al, 2019, 2020). This elevated risk is linked to experiences of identity‐based rejection, discrimination, and victimization associated with being in a socially stigmatized position in society (Meyer, 2003), as opposed to being LGBTQ in and of itself.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to research on ACEs, cumulative risk models have been employed to examine exposure to multiple types of victimization, or polyvictimization. Recent studies have highlighted that LGBTQ populations are at increased risk of experiencing polyvictimization compared to their straight/heterosexual peers (Johns et al, 2020; Schwab‐Reese et al, 2018; Sterzing et al, 2019). For example, a study that utilized data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health examined experiences of eight types of violence related to child abuse, criminal assault, intimate partner violence, and sexual assault across heterosexual and LGBTQ adolescents (Schwab‐Reese et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Findings suggested that youth who identified as “not exclusively heterosexual” had significantly greater odds of experiencing two or more of these experiences compared to those who were exclusively heterosexual. Furthermore, a recent study using data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) found that 32% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) high school students experienced polyvictimization compared to 13% of heterosexual students (Johns et al, 2020). However, when examining the association between polyvictimization and suicide risk among LGB youth, polyvictimization did not fully explain the elevated suicide risk compared to heterosexual peers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cumulative minority stress and suicide risk among LGBTQ youth

Green

Price-Feeney

Dorison

2021

American J of Comm Psychol

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Exposure to minority stress is the primary mechanism through which lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth experience a greater risk for suicide. The current study examines the association of LGBTQ‐based cumulative minority stress with suicide risk using online survey data collected from 39,126 LGBTQ youth ages 13–24 in the United States. Youth who reported four types of minority stress had nearly 12 times greater odds of attempting suicide compared to those who reported none. Transgender and nonbinary youth and American Indian/Alaskan Native youth had higher odds of reporting three or more minority stress experiences. The strong association of cumulative risk with attempted suicide and disproportionate exposure among marginalized members of the LGBTQ community highlight the need for suicide prevention to prioritize those at greatest risk and for research examining LGBTQ suicide risk to employ cumulative risk models.

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“…These intersections are ubiquitous in the individual lives of queer youth and the social contexts and systems around them and must be considered in understanding the lived experiences of queer youth, risk, and protective factors for suicidality. MST components in the pink boxes show the relationships between polyvictimization (i.e., the “co-occurrence of multiple types of victimization” [ 62 ] (p. 240), minority stressors specific to queer youth (e.g., internalized stigma), and mental health problems (e.g., depression). The blue boxes represent PIE-R&R proximal social environments (e.g., family, school, peer, and community factors, as well as suicide exposure) that play significant roles in psychosocial processes and mental health outcomes among queer youth related to suicide risk, as supported by theory and extant literature.…”

Section: An Integrated Conceptual Model To Understand Suicidality Amo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

An Integrated Conceptual Model to Understand Suicidality among Queer Youth to Inform Suicide Prevention

et al. 2022

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In this article, we apply and combine elements from four theoretical frameworks (i.e., Minority Stress Theory, Person-in-Environment and Risk and Resilience Framework, Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide, and Intersectionality) to explain the problem of queer youth suicide through our integrated conceptual model, Queer Prevention of Youth Suicidality Model (Queer-PRYSM). The need for this conceptual model is based on the current state of the literature, including mixed empirical findings on factors related to queer youth suicidality, no scholarly consensus on specific contributing factors regarding high rates of suicidality among queer youth (including queer youth subgroups), and the absence of a unifying theory to explain the queer youth suicide risk. To address these limitations in theory, evidence, and scholarship explaining suicidality among queer youth we present our integrated model with growing, current, relevant research with queer youth. Queer-PRYSM includes minority stressors specific to queer youth, mental health problems, interpersonal-psychological factors, socioecological factors (i.e., family, school, peers, and community), and intersectionality concepts. Queer-PRYSM is essential to understanding the relationship of distal and proximal risk and protective factors in queer youth suicide and developing evidence-informed suicide preventive interventions that can be incorporated into practice, policy, and system structures.

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Differences in Adolescent Experiences of Polyvictimization and Suicide Risk by Sexual Minority Status

Cited by 19 publications

References 52 publications

Homophobic Verbal and Bullying Victimization: Overlap and Emotional Impact

Homophobic Verbal and Bullying Victimization: Overlap and Emotional Impact

Cumulative minority stress and suicide risk among LGBTQ youth

An Integrated Conceptual Model to Understand Suicidality among Queer Youth to Inform Suicide Prevention

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