Sexual Orientation and Adolescent Time Use: How Sexual Minority Youth Spend Their Time

Abstract

This study combines minority stress and ecological perspectives to theorize the associations between adolescents’ sexual orientation and time use. Hypotheses are tested using data from a national sample of Australian adolescents aged 14–15 years (Longitudinal Study of Australian Children; n = 3,060). Compared to heterosexual adolescents, sexual minority adolescents spent less time with their siblings and fathers, more time alone, less time in active leisure‐ and school‐based activities, and more time in nonactive leisure. There were no differences between sexual minority and heterosexual adolescents in time spent with mothers, peers, and in screen‐based leisure. Some associations were gendered. Collectively, the results suggest that sexual minority adolescents may withdraw or be excluded from critical developmental activities and the company of key social partners.

Changes in Sexual Identity Labels in a Contemporary Cohort of Emerging Adult Women: Patterns, Prevalence and a Typology

“…Developing a sexual minority identity therefore requires that an individual becomes aware of and begins to express their internal reality surrounding their sexual orientation (Rosario et al, 2011), and ultimately breaks from conformity to heteronormative expectations (Kaestle, 2019;Rust, 1992). The compulsory contexts of adolescence-such as schools and families-are not always supportive of non-heterosexuality (Goldbach & Gibbs, 2017;Perales, Campbell & O'Flaherty, 2019), making it difficult for some youth to assume a sexual minority identity during this time (Morgan & Thompson, 2006).…”

Early roots of sexual-orientation health disparities: associations between sexual attraction, health and well-being in a national sample of Australian adolescents

“…All models were adjusted for potential confounding by factors known or suspected to be correlated with adolescents' self-reported sexual orientation and their health/wellbeing, and included as controls in previous studies. [11,15,32,34] These included: gender (male/female), age (in months), language spoken at home, as a proxy for cultural background (English/other), presence of father (yes/no) and mother (yes/no) at home, and number of siblings (zero/one/two/three or more).…”

Health Disparities Between Sexual Minority and Different-Sex-Attracted Adolescents: Quantifying the Intervening Role of Social Support and School Belonging

“…However, schools are heteronormative social environments that remain ''compulsory'' for sexual minority adolescents and represent contexts where these adolescents have little choice to decide with whom they interact. 13,14 Furthermore-unlike countries such as the United States-Australia lacks school-based programs aimed at reducing stigma and bullying toward sexual minority youth. 9…”

“…A set of control variables was included in all regression models to account for potential confounding. These variables resemble those in cognate studies of sexual orientation and adolescent outcomes 1,4,14,22 and included: sex (male/ female), age (in months), language spoken at home-a proxy for ethno-cultural background (English/other), father's presence (yes/no), mother's presence (yes/no), and number of siblings (0/1/2/3+). Means or percentages and standard deviations (SDs) on all variables (before standardization) are presented in Table 1.…”

“…This is an important avenue for further work, as it can point to malleable factors that could be targeted by interventions to improve sexual minority health. 9,10 Guided by the more-developed literature on sexual orientation health disparities in adult populations [10][11][12] and theoretical perspectives on adolescent experiences of minority stress, 13,14 this study focuses on the potential mediating role of social support and school belonging.…”