Testing the minority stress model across gender identity, race, and ethnicity among U.S. gender minority adolescents.

Gender minority (GM) youth are at heightened risk for psychopathology, purportedly due to their experiences of GM stressors. However, few studies have examined how GM stressors are associated with depression and anxiety among GM youth. Furthermore, no prior studies have investigated how experiences of GM stressors differ across gender identity and race/ethnicity within a diverse sample of GM youth.

The Influence of Social Media Interactions and Behaviors on Depressive Symptoms Among Sexual and Gender Minority Young Adults in the United States: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Longitudinal Study.

Background: Sexual and gender minority (SGM; ie, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and otherwise queer) young adults experience disparities in depression and other internalizing psychopathology. Although social media use is widespread and SGM people have more social media accounts and are more socially active on them than non-SGM individuals, few studies have examined the impact of social media on depression in this group.

Objective: The PRIDE iM study will be the first longitudinal, mixed methods research conducted to determine the impact of social media interactions and behaviors as pathways to depressive symptoms among SGM young adults living in the United States.

Perceived Gender Transition Progress, Gender Congruence, and Mental Health Symptoms Among Transgender Adolescents.

Purpose: Transgender adolescents (TGAs) have high risk for experiencing mental health problems, but little is known about how aspects of gender identity relate to their mental health symptoms. Evidence from child and adult samples of transgender individuals indicates making progress in gender transition milestones and higher levels of congruence between gender identity and gender expression are related to fewer mental health problems. We examined associations between perceived transition progress, gender congruence, and mental health symptoms in a diverse, nationwide sample of TGAs.

Psychosocial correlates of body esteem and disordered eating among sexual minority adolescent girls.

The present study examined whether body esteem mediates the associations between psychosocial factors, including peer victimization and parent-adolescent relationship quality, and multiple categories of disordered eating (DE) within a diverse sample of adolescent sexual minority (SM) girls. Participants were 528 girls, aged 14-18 years, recruited as part of a larger online study on LGBTQ + adolescent health. Participants anonymously completed self-report measures of parent-adolescent relationship quality, sexual orientation-based victimization, body esteem, and DE behaviors, including binge eating, purging, and caloric restriction.

Disparities in Childhood Abuse Between Transgender and Cisgender Adolescents.

Background And Objectives: Transgender adolescents (TGAs) exhibit disproportionate levels of mental health problems compared with cisgender adolescents (CGAs), but psychosocial processes underlying mental health disparities among TGAs remain understudied. We examined self-reported childhood abuse among TGAs compared with CGAs and risk for abuse within subgroups of TGAs in a nationwide sample of US adolescents.

Methods: Adolescents aged 14 to 18 completed a cross-sectional online survey ( = 1836, including 1055 TGAs, 340 heterosexual CGAs, and 433 sexual minority CGAs).

Gender Nonconformity and Minority Stress Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals: A Meta-Analytic Review.

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals are less healthy than heterosexual individuals, and minority stress endured by LGB individuals contributes to these health disparities. However, within-groups differences in minority stress experiences among LGB individuals remain underexplored. Individuals are more likely to be categorized as LGB if they exhibit gender nonconformity, so gender nonconformity could influence concealability of sexual orientation among LGB individuals, carrying important implications for the visibility of their stigmatized sexual orientation identity and for how they experience and cope with minority stress.

Disparities in disordered eating between gender minority and cisgender adolescents.

Objective: Adolescence is a developmental period of increased risk for disordered eating. Gender minority adolescents (GMAs), or those whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth, may experience body image concerns related to unique gender-related stressors. GMAs may use disordered eating to affirm a feminine, masculine, or nonbinary gender identity.

Exploring transgender adolescents' body image concerns and disordered eating: Semi-structured interviews with nine gender minority youth.

Transgender adolescents (TGAs) face many of the same sociocultural and biological influences on body dissatisfaction and disordered eating as cisgender peers. Additionally, TGAs experience unique body- and gender-related concerns. The purpose of this study is to explore the nuances of gender identity, gender transitioning, body image, and disordered eating among TGAs.

The psychiatric sequelae of the COVID-19 pandemic in adolescents, adults, and health care workers.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is the most serious global public health crisis since the 1918 influenza pandemic. This study is the first to assess its mental health impact across the lifespan in the United States in adolescents, adults, and health care workers.

Methods: We recruited 4909 participants through an online survey advertising on Facebook and Instagram to assess exposure to COVID-19 and psychiatric symptoms from April 27 to July 13.

Examining Sexual Behavior Among U.S. Transgender Adolescents.

The health of transgender adolescents (i.e., those identifying with a gender other than their sex assigned at birth) is gaining attention from researchers, yet little work has examined normative sexual behaviors among this population.

Sleep among gender minority adolescents.

Study Objectives: Stigmatized youth experience poorer sleep than those who have not experienced stigma. However, no studies have examined the sleep of gender minority adolescents (GMAs). Examining sleep disparities between GMAs and non-GMAs is critical because poor sleep is associated with mental health outcomes experienced disproportionately by GMAs.

The Gender Minority Youth Study: Overview of Methods and Social Media Recruitment of a Nationwide Sample of U.S. Cisgender and Transgender Adolescents.

Recent research has documented significant mental health disparities for transgender adolescents. However, the extant literature is hindered by vague operationalizations of gender identity and limited measurement of trans-specific stressors. In this article, we (1) introduce and describe the Gender Minority Youth (GMY) Study, a large-scale study of transgender youth disparities; and (2) provide evidence of the feasibility of using social media to recruit a diverse sample of U.

Brief Report: HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Engagement Among Adolescent Men Who Have Sex With Men: The Role of Parent-Adolescent Communication About Sex.

Background: Adolescent men who have sex with men (AMSM) are severely affected by the HIV epidemic in the United States. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has proven extremely effective in preventing new HIV infections among adult men who have sex with men, but no research has examined PrEP awareness among AMSM. Furthermore, initial research investigating PrEP adherence among AMSM has found low adherence to the medication regimen.

Parent-Adolescent Communication About Sex and Condom Use Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men: An Examination of the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Background: Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are at disproportionate risk for HIV infection. Parent-adolescent communication about sex, particularly mother-adolescent communication, protects against adolescent sexual risk behavior. However, it is unclear whether these findings generalize to YMSM.

Parental Monitoring Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men: Associations With Sexual Activity and HIV-Related Sexual Risk Behaviors.

Purpose: Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are at disproportionate risk for HIV infection. Parental monitoring is protective against adolescent sexual risk behavior among heterosexual adolescents, yet it is unclear whether these findings generalize to YMSM. YMSM experience unique family dynamics during adolescence, including coming out to parents and parental rejection of sexual orientation.

Adolescent Disclosure to Parents and Daily Management of Type 1 Diabetes.

Objective: To examine how adolescents’ daily disclosure to parents about type 1 diabetes management may foster a process whereby parents gain knowledge and are viewed as helpful in ways that may aid diabetes management.

Methods: A total of 236 late adolescents (M age = 17.76) completed a 14-day diary where they reported daily disclosure to, and solicitation from, their parents, how knowledgeable and helpful parents were, and their self-regulation failures and adherence; blood glucose was gathered from meters.

School victimization and substance use among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adolescents.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) adolescents are at increased risk for substance use, relative to their heterosexual counterparts. Although previous research has demonstrated that experiences of anti-LGBT harassment, discrimination, and victimization may explain some of this disparity, little is known about the mechanisms whereby such mistreatment leads to substance abuse. This study aimed to examine whether mechanisms suggested by the Social Development Model might explain the links between school-based victimization and substance use in this population.