Introduction
Adolescents who identify as a sexual or gender minority are vulnerable to multiple
health disparities because of stigma-based peer harassment. Given that sexual and
gender minority adolescents may be bullied for several stigmatized identities that
may exacerbate health risk, it is important to examine factors that can simultaneously
reduce multiple forms of targeted victimization among sexual and gender minority adolescents.
This study examines whether variation in health risk across sexual and gender minority
adolescents who attend schools with versus without a gay–straight alliance can be
explained by lessened bias-based bullying across a broad scope of stigmatized identities
and attributes.
Methods
Data on school-based gay–straight alliances, bias-based bullying, and health risk
indicators were collected from the LGBTQ National Teen Survey (n=17,112; mean age=15.57 [SD=1.27] years) and analyzed in 2019. Multiple mediation
analysis was conducted using latent variable structural equation modeling.
Results
The majority (73%) of sexual and gender minority adolescents were bullied for stigmatized
identities other than those related to their gender or sexual orientation. Compared
to schools without a gay–straight alliance, student reports of multiple forms of bias-based
bullying (based on body weight, gender, religion, disability, gender typicality, sexual
orientation) were lower at schools with gay–straight alliances, which in turn attenuated
adverse health outcomes (i.e., stress, sleep problems, depression, and unhealthy weight
control behaviors).
Conclusions
Sexual and gender minority adolescents experience multiple forms of bias-based bullying,
which independently heighten health risk, and this study extends previous work on
gay–straight alliances to highlight a wider range of potential positive contributions
to adolescent health.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: June 15, 2020
Identification
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© 2020 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
