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Sexual minorities report poorer mental health relative to heterosexual counterparts, but this is underexplored in Latinx youth. This study compares internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors in Latinx adolescents with Same Sex Behaviors (LASSB) to their Latinx adolescent peers who did not report same sex behaviors (non-LASSB). It also explores the moderating role of biculturalism on the relationship between internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors, and same-sex behaviors. Individual-level baseline data (Total N = 1,634; LASSB n = 195) from five trials of a preventive intervention for Latinx adolescents were synthesized. Normal and clinical levels of internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors were determined, and logistic regression models were conducted to determine the odds of LASSB reporting these behaviors relative to non-LASSB. Additional adjusted models tested for the moderating effect of biculturalism. LASSB reported significantly higher odds of normal levels of all externalizing behaviors and clinical levels of anxious/depressed compared to non-LASSB. Biculturalism significantly moderated the association between same-sex behavior and clinical levels of internalizing behaviors; however, in subgroup analyses among LASSB, biculturalism did not significantly predict any of these behaviors. Latinx adolescents exhibited mental health disparities by same-sex behavior. Biculturalism may be an important indicator for describing these disparities in LASSB and should be further explored.

AbstractMeasuring sexual orientation involves assessing multiple domains to account for the various conceptualizations adolescents may have. The purpose of this study was to examine: (1) the factor structure and reliability of the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid (KSOG) and (2) measurement invariance across age and nativity groups. Participants included 454 Latina/o/x adolescents [25.3% Latina/o/x sexual minority youth (LSMY) and 74.7% Latina/o/x non-SMY]. We examined the hypothesized factor structure of the KSOG using confirmatory factor analysis and the configural, metric, and scalar invariance of the identified factor structure was examined between age (12–14 and 15–17) and nativity (U.S. born and foreign-born) groups. A single factor captured: identity, attraction, emotional connection, and fantasies (CFI/RMSEA = 1.00/.000). We found evidence for metric noninvariance suggesting that sexual orientation as a latent construct does not perform equivalently among Hispanic adolescents who are younger versus older (Δχ2(3) = 106.01, p < 0.001, ΔCFI = 0.041, ΔTLI = 0.064, and ΔRMSEA = 0.154) or adolescents who are U.S. born versus foreign-born (Δχ2(3) = 10.34, p < 0.05, ΔCFI = 0.003, ΔTLI = 0.002, and ΔRMSEA = 0.011). The KSOG may not be used equivalently among older and younger Latina/o/x adolescents and Latina/o/x adolescents who are U.S. born and foreign-born. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]