Search

Objectives: Suicide is a leading causes of death for adolescents, and is a developmental period with the highest rates of suicide attempts. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth are a high-risk population for suicidal ideations and behaviors when compared with their non-LGBTQ counterparts. However, a dearth of research exists on the protective factors for suicidal ideation and attempts specifically within the LGBTQ population. The current study proposes a model in which peer victimization, drug use, depressive symptoms, and help-seeking beliefs predict suicidal ideation and attempts among a statewide sample of LGBTQ adolescents. Methods: Among 4867 high school students in 20 schools, 713 self-identified as LGBTQ and had higher rates of attempts and ideation than their non-LBGTQ peers. Two logistic regression analyses were used to predict suicidal ideation and attempts among the 713 LGBTQ students (M = age 15 years). Results: Results indicated that intentions to use drugs, peer victimization, and elevated depressive symptoms predicted both suicidal ideation and attempts. Additionally, help-seeking beliefs predicted suicidal attempts but not ideation, while the interaction of help-seeking beliefs and depressive symptoms significantly predicted suicidal ideation. Conclusions: These findings underscore the importance of increasing access to effective treatment services for depression and promoting safe and accepting school and community cultures for LGBTQ youth in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a dearth of research examining the relation between adolescent peer victimization and internalizing symptoms during emerging adulthood. This retrospective study examined relations among offline and online peer victimization, internalizing symptoms, as well as offline and online social support. A sample of 416 participants aged 18–24 was recruited and self-report data on adolescent victimization, support, and internalizing symptoms were collected. The results showed that retrospective reports of peer victimization and social support predicted current internalizing symptomology. However, this varied as a function of online/offline context and symptomology. Specifically peer victimization was more predictive of depressive symptoms than social anxiety symptoms. Offline social support predicted fewer internalizing symptoms, but online support did not. Social support diminished the association between peer victimization and social anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transgender youth peer relations is understudied when compared to lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth (LGB). Likewise, transgender youth of color (YOC) are also understudied given the difficulties associated with accessing the sample. This study examines the relations among peer victimization, school belonging, and mental health with an ethnically diverse sample of transgender adolescents (N = 4778). Invariance testing and structural equation modeling were employed to explore these relations as well as the potential moderating role of ethnic minority status. Findings demonstrate that an alarming number of transgender youth were exposed to victimization and that victimization predicted mental health issues like suicidal ideation. Furthermore, analyses showed that peer victimization was associated with diminished school belonging. School belonging was associated with better mental health and appeared to mediate the relation between victimization and mental health issues. Ethnic minority status did not moderate these associations. Implications for research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth's experiences at school has largely focused on stigma, adversity, disparities, and peer victimization. Factors like school climate, individual differences, and social support have also garnered significant attention. However, there has been a dearth of research examining how they relate to both suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Our goal was to bolster the extant literature by examining the protective role of parental support and psychological mechanisms like school belonging and self-compassion among LGBTQ youth struggling with peer victimization and suicidality. A cross-sectional study was completed with a sample of 934 LGBTQ high school students. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze direct and indirect effects. Peer victimization was positively associated with both forms of suicidality and negatively associated with school belonging and self-compassion. Psychological processes varied in their in prediction of suicidal ideation and attempts. Parental support did not moderate pathways between victimization and processes, but was associated with diminished suicidality and improved school belonging. Our findings illustrate the critical nature of further developing our understanding of the complexities of suicidality. School programs and interventions that are designed to cultivate belonging, self-compassion, and parental support may prove to be especially beneficial for victimized LGBTQ youth who struggle with suicidality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bystander intervention (i.e., a third party decides to defend a victim when witnessing a conflict) has been identified as an effective strategy to resolve bullying incidents (O'Connell, Pepler, & Craig, 1999). Researchers suggest that student willingness to intervene (WTI) is a robust predictor of bystander intervention (Nickerson, Aloe, Livingston, & Feeley, 2014). Toxic masculinity has been defined as "the constellation of socially regressive [masculine] traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia, and wanton violence" (Kupers, 2005, p. 71). Though some aspects of toxic masculinity (e.g., low empathy) have received some empirical attention regarding their role in determining prosocial behavior, many aspects of toxic masculinity have not. Little research has examined how constructs such as attitudes surrounding bullying and sexual harassment, social dominance orientation, and homophobic bullying are related to longitudinal changes in WTI across adolescence. The present study uses growth mixture modeling (GMM) to examine the heterogeneity of WTI among middle school boys in the Midwest (N = 805). Students were classified into three profiles of WTI over time: a "stable high" class (70.9%), a "decreasing" class (22%), and a "stable low" class (7.1%). When compared with the "stable high" class, students with higher levels of dominance and pro-bullying attitudes were associated with an 11% (AOR = 1.11, 95% CI [1.01–1.21] and a 55% (AOR = 1.55, 95% CI [1.05–2.31] increase in the odds of being in the "decreasing" class, respectively. Youth who reported higher rates of homophobic name calling perpetration had a 16% (AOR = 1.16, 95% CI [1.02–1.34] increase in the odds of being in the stable low class compared to the stable high class. Additionally, both homophobic name calling victimization and empathy were associated with a 17% (AOR = 0.83, 95% CI [0.70–0.98] and 18% (AOR = 0.82, 95% CI [0.69–0.98] lower odds of being in the stable low class. The findings support the theoretical framework which posits that features of toxic masculinity are associated with less WTI and thus carry implications for intervention design (Carlson, 2008; Leone et al., 2016). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]