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Bias-based aggression at school in the form of homophobic name-calling is quite prevalent among early adolescents. Homophobic name-calling is associated with low academic performance, higher risky sexual behaviors, and substance abuse, among other adverse outcomes. This longitudinal study examined risk and protective factors across multiple domains of the social ecology (individual, peer, family, school and community) and levels of analysis (within- and between-person) associated with homophobic name-calling perpetration and victimization. Students from four middle schools in the U.S. Midwest (N = 1,655; X ¯ age = 12.75; range = 10–16 years) were surveyed four times (Spring/Fall 2008, Spring/Fall 2009). For homophobic name-calling perpetration, significant risk factors included impulsivity, social dominance, traditional masculinity, family violence, and neighborhood violence; while empathy, peer support, school belonging, and adult support were significant protective factors. For homophobic name-calling victimization, significant risk factors included empathy (between-person), impulsivity, traditional masculinity, family violence, and neighborhood violence, while empathy (within-person), parental monitoring, peer support, school belonging, and adult support were significant protective factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual violence (SV) among adolescents continues to be a major public health concern with numerous consequences. Research, predominantly with male collegiate samples, has suggested an association between sports participation and SV perpetration, and has included other important risk factors such as substance use and attitudes. However, more research is needed in this area among adolescents. The current study uses latent class analysis (LCA) to examine data- driven classes of high school student athletes (N = 665) engaged in three risk factor areas for SV: sport contact level, likelihood of substance use, and attitudes dismissive of SV. Once classes were enumerated and fit separately for male and female samples, pairwise comparisons were conducted on scores on two forms of SV (perpetration of sexual harassment and unwanted sexual contact) as a function of class membership. A 5-class solution was retained for both males and females. In the female sample, regarding SV—harassment, those most likely to perpetrate sexual harassment were those characterized by high likelihood of use of cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol, vape products, and those who played any type of sport. Too few females endorsed perpetration of unwanted sexual contact for pairwise comparisons to be conducted. For males, the classes most likely to perpetrate both forms of SV were those who were likely to endorse high likelihood to use of cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol, vape products, endorse attitudes dismissive of SV, and play any type of sport but especially high contact sports. These findings implicate high school athletic spaces as important venues for sexual violence prevention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study, grounded in a social learning theoretical framework, examined attitudes and behaviors associated with verbal and physical teen dating violence (TDV) victimization. Because TDV varies by gender in both frequency and severity, these associations were examined first within the overall sample, and then by gender to further investigate these differences. A total of 1,884 adolescents (49.2% boys; 50.8% girls; average age 14.79 years; SD =.58) who reported ever dating someone were included in the analysis. Specifically, peers' justification of TDV, attitudes supporting gender inequality, sexual activity, and peer victimization were included to determine their cross-sectional association with verbal and physical TDV victimization. Data were analyzed separately for boys and girls. Results indicated that peers' justification of TDV, peer victimization, sexual activity, and attitudes supporting gender inequality were each associated with higher physical and verbal TDV victimization for girls and boys. Most of these factors remained significant when separated by gender, except for sexual activity and attitudes supporting gender inequality, which were not associated with physical TDV victimization for boys and girls, respectively. Implications for practice and research are discussed. [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]

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]

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]