Weight-based discrimination and disordered eating behaviors in a cohort of U.S. sexual minority young adults.

Objective: Though prevalent, weight-based discrimination is understudied and has been linked to disordered eating behaviors (DEB) among adolescents and adults. Sexual minority populations experience elevated risk of DEB, but little is known about the role of weight discrimination in this elevated risk.

Methods: Participants were 1257 sexual minority women and men (ages 18-31 years) in the US Growing Up Today Study cohort.

One-Year Follow-up After a Pregnancy Prevention Intervention for LGB+ Teens: An RCT.

Background: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority (LGB+) girls are more likely than heterosexual girls to be pregnant during adolescence. Nonetheless, LGB+ inclusive pregnancy prevention programming is lacking.

Methods: Between January 2017 and January 2018, 948, 14 to 18 year-old cisgender LGB+ girls were enrolled in a national randomized controlled trial.

Subgroup Analyses of Girl2Girl, a Text Messaging-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program for Sexual Minority Girls: Results from a National RCT.

This study aims to investigate whether Girl2Girl, a text messaging-based pregnancy prevention program for cisgender LGB+ girls, had different effects on subgroups based on age, sexual identity, and experience with penile-vaginal sex. A total of 948 girls, 14-18 years old, were recruited nationally via social media and enrolled over the telephone. Once they completed the baseline, they were randomized to either Girl2Girl or an attention-matched control program that discussed "healthy lifestyle" topics (e.

Reasons Lesbian and Bisexual Adolescent Girls Have or Might Have Sex with Females or Males: Implications for Discordance between Sexual Identity and Behaviors and for Prevention of Pregnancy and STIs.

We examined reasons lesbian and bisexual adolescent girls have sex or, if sexually inexperienced, might have sex with girls or boys, and the role of internalized homonegativity in these relations and among lesbians. Girls were recruited online and classified as lesbian ( = 129) or bisexual ( = 193); the classification was validated. Love and pleasure were common reasons for having sex with girls, although more lesbian girls (LG) than bisexual girls (BG) endorsed love.

A National, Qualitative Study of Sexual Decision Making by Teenage Girls who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or who have Another Nonheterosexual Identity.

Objective: To address the significant dearth of literature that examines how girls who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or who have another nonheterosexual identity (LGB+) decide when and with whom to have sex; and to explore why inexperienced LGB+ girls might have sex with girls or boys.

Study Design: We conducted 8 online, asynchronous, bulletin board-style focus groups with 160 adolescent girls 14-18 years of age. The transcripts were analyzed using a thematic analysis of each girls' responses to the questions.

Contraceptive use by women across different sexual orientation groups.

Objectives: To examine contraceptive methods used across sexual orientation groups.

Study Design: We collected data from 118,462 female participants in two longitudinal cohorts-the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) 2 (founded in 1989, participants born 1947-1964) and NHS3 (founded in 2010, born 1965-1995). We used log-binomial models to estimate contraceptive methods ever used across sexual orientation groups and cohorts, adjusting for age and race.

Sexual Orientation Development of Heterosexual, Bisexual, Lesbian, and Gay Individuals: Questions and Hypotheses Based on Kaestle's (2019) Research.

Christine Kaestle's work assessed the three major dimensions of sexual orientation: sexual attractions, behaviors, and identity. She tracked the unfolding of sexual orientation over time, from adolescence to early adulthood (i.e.

Associations of Timing of Sexual Orientation Developmental Milestones and Other Sexual Minority Stressors with Internalizing Mental Health Symptoms Among Sexual Minority Young Adults.

Sexual minorities (mostly heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian/gay) are more likely than heterosexuals to have adverse mental health, which may be related to minority stress. We used longitudinal data from 1461 sexual minority women and men, aged 22-30 years, from Wave 2010 of the Growing Up Today Study, to examine associations between sexual minority stressors and mental health. We hypothesized that sexual minority stressors (earlier timing of sexual orientation developmental milestones categorized into early adolescence, middle adolescence, late adolescence/young adulthood; greater sexual orientation mobility; more bullying victimization) would be positively associated with mental health outcomes (depressive and anxious symptoms).

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth and Family Acceptance.

In this article, we address theories of attachment and parental acceptance and rejection, and their implications for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youths' identity and health. We also provide 2 clinical cases to illustrate the process of family acceptance of a transgender youth and a gender nonconforming youth who was neither a sexual minority nor transgender. Clinical implications of family acceptance and rejection of LGBT youth are discussed.

Endorsement and Timing of Sexual Orientation Developmental Milestones Among Sexual Minority Young Adults in the Growing Up Today Study.

This research examined endorsement and timing of sexual orientation developmental milestones. Participants were 1,235 females and 398 males from the Growing Up Today Study, ages 22 to 29 years, who endorsed a sexual minority orientation (lesbian/gay, bisexual, mostly heterosexual) or reported same-gender sexual behavior (heterosexual with same-gender sexual experience). An online survey measured current sexual orientation and endorsement and timing (age first experienced) of five sexual orientation developmental milestones: same-gender attractions, other-gender attractions, same-gender sexual experience, other-gender sexual experience, and sexual minority identification.

Sexual Behaviors and Partner Characteristics by Sexual Identity Among Adolescent Girls.

Purpose: Data suggest that lesbian and bisexual adolescents engage in risky sexual behaviors at higher rates than heterosexual girls. Whether these findings also apply to girls of other sexual identities is less well understood. Potential differences in risky sexual behaviors reported by lesbian versus bisexual adolescents are also underreported in the literature.

Disparities by Sexual Orientation in Frequent Engagement in Cancer-Related Risk Behaviors: A 12-Year Follow-Up.

Objectives: We examined sexual-orientation disparities in frequent engagement in cancer-related risk indicators of tobacco, alcohol, diet and physical activity, ultraviolet radiation, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Methods: We used longitudinal data from the national Growing Up Today Study (1999-2010). Of the analytic sample (n = 9958), 1.

Sexual orientation disparities in adolescent cigarette smoking: intersections with race/ethnicity, gender, and age.

Objectives: We examined sexual orientation differences in adolescent smoking and intersections with race/ethnicity, gender, and age.

Methods: We pooled Youth Risk Behavior Survey data collected in 2005 and 2007 from 14 jurisdictions; the analytic sample comprised observations from 13 of those jurisdictions (n = 64,397). We compared smoking behaviors of sexual minorities and heterosexuals on 2 dimensions of sexual orientation: identity (heterosexual, gay-lesbian, bisexual, unsure) and gender of lifetime sexual partners (only opposite sex, only same sex, or both sexes).

The association between sexual orientation identity and behavior across race/ethnicity, sex, and age in a probability sample of high school students.

Objectives: We examined the prevalence and associations between behavioral and identity dimensions of sexual orientation among adolescents in the United States, with consideration of differences associated with race/ethnicity, sex, and age.

Methods: We used pooled data from 2005 and 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys to estimate prevalence of sexual orientation variables within demographic sub-groups. We used multilevel logistic regression models to test differences in the association between sexual orientation identity and sexual behavior across groups.

Risk Factors for Homelessness Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youths: A Developmental Milestone Approach.

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youths are over-represented in the homeless population. To examine why some LGB youths become homeless, this report compares homeless and non-homeless LGB youths. Of the 156 LGB youths, 48% reported ever being homeless (i.

Homelessness among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth: implications for subsequent internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Although lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth with a history of homelessness (running away or being evicted from their homes by parents) report more psychological symptoms than homeless heterosexual peers, it is unclear whether symptoms are due to homelessness, given the absence of a non-homeless comparison group. This study longitudinally investigates whether LGB youth with a history of homelessness report more subsequent psychological symptoms than non-homeless LGB youth and examines potential mediators of any such relationships. Of the 156 LGB youth interviewed (49% female; 78% non-White), 48% reported past homeless experiences.

Role of Parent and Peer Relationships and Individual Characteristics in Middle School Children's Behavioral Outcomes in the Face of Community Violence.

This study examines processes linking inner-city community violence exposure to subsequent internalizing and externalizing problems. Hypothesized risk and protective factors from three ecological domains -- children's parent and peer relationships and individual characteristics -- were examined for mediating, moderating or independent roles in predicting problem behavior among 667 children over three years of middle school. Mediation was not found.

Cigarette smoking as a coping strategy: negative implications for subsequent psychological distress among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths.

Objective: The heightened risk of cigarette smoking found among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youths may be because smoking serves as a coping strategy used to adapt to the greater stress experienced by LGB youths. The current report examines whether smoking moderates the relation between stress and subsequent psychological distress, and whether alternative coping resources (i.e.

Different patterns of sexual identity development over time: implications for the psychological adjustment of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths.

Despite research documenting variability in the sexual identity development of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youths, it remains unclear whether different developmental patterns have implications for the psychological adjustment of LGB youths. This report longitudinally examines whether different patterns of LGB identity formation and integration are associated with indicators of psychological adjustment among an ethnically diverse sample of 156 LGB youths (ages 14-21) in New York City. Although differences in the timing of identity formation were not associated with psychological adjustment, greater identity integration was related to less depressive and anxious symptoms, fewer conduct problems, and higher self-esteem both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.

Disclosure of sexual orientation and subsequent substance use and abuse among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths: critical role of disclosure reactions.

Research on whether disclosure of sexual orientation promotes lower substance use among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals has been inconsistent. One reason for this may be that disclosure results in accepting and rejecting reactions. The current report longitudinally examines whether the types of reactions to disclosure are associated with substance use and abuse among 156 LGB youths (ages 14-21).

Butch/Femme differences in substance use and abuse among young lesbian and bisexual women: examination and potential explanations.

The current study examined the role of gender atypical self-presentation on the alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use, as well as symptoms of substance abuse/misuse, of an ethnically diverse sample of 76 young (ages 14-21 years) lesbian and bisexual women who were interviewed between 1993 and 1995 in New York City. Even after controlling for age, sexual identity, and social desirability, young butch women reported drinking alcohol more frequently and in greater quantity, smoking more cigarettes, and using marijuana more frequently than young femme women. Experiences of gay-related stressful events, internalized homophobia, and emotional distress were found to largely account for the butch/femme differences in tobacco and marijuana use, but not in higher levels of alcohol use.

A model of sexual risk behaviors among young gay and bisexual men: longitudinal associations of mental health, substance abuse, sexual abuse, and the coming-out process.

Sexual risk behaviors of young gay and bisexual men must be understood within the context of other health concerns (e.g., anxiety, substance abuse), population specific factors (i.

Ethnic/racial differences in the coming-out process of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths: a comparison of sexual identity development over time.

This longitudinal report of 145 lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youths examined ethnic/racial differences in the coming-out process. No significant differences emerged in sexual developmental milestones, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, or sexual identity. However, Black youths reported involvement in fewer gay-related social activities, reported less comfort with others knowing their sexual identity, and disclosed that identity to fewer people than did White youths.