Strategies employed by sexual minority adolescents to cope with minority stress.

Abstract

Sexual minority adolescents (SMA) experience disparities in health and behavioral health outcomes, including high rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, substance use, HIV risk behavior, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. These outcomes are commonly attributed to minority stress. Stress experiences are different for SMA than their adult counterparts. For example, disclosing their sexual orientation may be more likely to result in homelessness because these youth more often live with parents or other family members. Although stress in this population has been explored in previous research, very little is known about how SMA cope. Relying upon an adolescent coping model, this study examined the coping strategies, responses, and resources of SMA related to stress. Forty-eight racially and ethnically diverse SMA (age 14–19) were recruited for 90-minute tape-recorded interviews. The semi-structured interviews were guided by a life history calendar. Recordings were transcribed verbatim and entered into QSR NVivo. All transcripts were coded by two members of the research team and went through a consensus process. Forty-three unique coping statements emerged that fit with the Compas model of adolescent coping. SMA cope with minority stress in similar ways to heterosexual youth coping with general stress, but findings suggest that SMA may also use different kinds of coping resources. Although further research is needed, the present study identified a variety of ways SMA cope with stress and can inform future research on the development interventions.

Is sexual minority status associated with poor sleep quality among adolescents? Analysis of a national cross-sectional survey in Chinese adolescents

“…Moreover, some psychological processes, such as cognitive, emotion regulation and social factors, 64 may also play a role in sexual minority sleep quality. In prior studies, the mediating or moderating effects of hopelessness 65 and avoidant coping strategies 66 on mental health outcome in sexual minorities have been well demonstrated; sexual minority adolescents in negative school climates or who lacked family support were also at an increased risk of poor health outcomes. 67 Thus, future studies are needed to test whether these potential mechanisms account for the association between school bullying victimisation and sleep quality.…”

Criterion and Divergent Validity of the Sexual Minority Adolescent Stress Inventory

“…Given that stigmatizing experiences can disrupt the achievement of developmental tasks during adolescence and contribute to negative outcomes (Radkowsky and Siegel, 1997 ), scholars have become increasingly interested in its impact during adolescence (Goldbach and Gibbs, 2015 ). Dozens of cross-sectional studies have attributed minority stress to behavioral health outcomes among SMA, including disclosure of sexual identity to family and peers (Remafedi et al, 1998 ; Almeida et al, 2009 ; D'Augelli et al, 2010 ; Haas et al, 2011 ), fear of becoming homeless upon disclosure (Rice et al, 2013 ), in-school victimization (i.e., bullying) by both students and faculty members (Russell et al, 2011 ; Toomey et al, 2011 ), and experiences of violence (D'Augelli et al, 2010 ; Friedman et al, 2011 ; Kosciw et al, 2013 ).…”

“…However, from a developmental perspective, adolescence is a critical period during which individuals establish long-term trajectories of health and are often still solidifying their sexual identities (Mustanski et al, 2013 ). Further, the stress process for all adolescents (regardless of sexual orientation) is associated with multiple factors related to peer relationships and pressure, demands from school and other responsibilities, lack of family bonding, family conflicts, and physical and psychological changes along with family and adolescent expectations for the future (Robson and Cook, 1995 ; De La Rosa, 2002 ; Guinn and Vincent, 2002 ; Goldbach and Gibbs, 2015 ). Thus understanding how minority-related stress experiences may discriminate from general adolescent stress is principal.…”

Development of the Sexual Minority Adolescent Stress Inventory

“…The development of an initial pool of candidate items for the SMASI emerged from a multiphase qualitative study of SMA (Goldbach and Gibbs, 2015 , 2017 ). Following a formative assessment with 25 key informants at three local organizations that serve a large number of SMA, a sample of 48 SMA aged 13–19 from diverse sexual orientation, gender, and racial and ethnic groups participated in a 90- to 120-min semi-structured life history calendar interview.…”