Amy L. Gower

The recent volume, Queer Kids and Social Violence: The Limits of Bullying, edited by Elizabethe Payne and Melissa J. Smith, aims to shift the discourse on the experiences of violence among lesbian,...

Asian American sexual and gender diverse youth experience bias-based stressors rooted in stereotypes and forms of oppression, which can contribute to coping behaviors like alcohol use. Few studies examine lifetime alcohol use with a focus on understanding heterogeneity within Asian American adolescents. The analytic sample included Asian American youth in 9^th through 12^th grade (N = 86,799) who completed the 2017-2019 California Healthy Kids Survey, a statewide, school-based survey. Exhaustive Chi-square automatic interaction detection was conducted using SPSS. Variables included exposure to sexual orientation and gender identity-based (SOGI) and race-based bullying and different social identities (ethnic, sexual, and gender identities and sex assigned at birth). Past-year SOGI-based bullying was reported by 11.2% of students and race-based bullying was reported by 18.8% of students. 19.6% of students indicated lifetime alcohol use, with higher rates among those in older grades (13.1% 9^th grade to 31.8% 12^th grade). Lowest lifetime alcohol use prevalence were among monoracial Asian American youth who were not the targets of bias-based bullying, while highest lifetime alcohol use rates were among youth identifying as multiracial and/or with a minoritized sexual orientation and experiencing bias-based bullying. Findings suggest bias-based victimization may lead youth to cope or attempt to fit in through alcohol use. Bisexual and multiracial youth, who are often marginalized from monoracial and monosexual communities also had high lifetime alcohol use prevalence. Future research should identify intersectionality-informed strategies to address the nuanced bias-based bullying experiences of Asian American sexual and gender diverse youth, particularly in school settings.

This study aimed to examine asthma disparities at the intersection of four sociodemographic characteristics, inhaled substance use, and bias-based bullying as metrics of stigma. We hypothesized that high prevalence groups for asthma would be those with marginalized social positions and those reporting bullying experiences, independent of inhaled substance use. The analytic sample (N = 90,367) included eighth, ninth, and 11th grade students who participated in the 2022 Minnesota Student Survey. Exhaustive Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detection tested all combinations of sociodemographic characteristics (gender identity, sexual orientation, racial/ethnic identity, and access to resources), inhaled substance use (none vs. any), and bias-based bullying about sexuality, gender identity/expression, racial identity, and weight/size to predict mutually exclusive groups of youth based on self-reported asthma diagnosis. Approximately 15% of the sample reported asthma. Sexually, gender, and racially/ethnically diverse youth reported higher rates of asthma relative to their heterosexual, cisgender, and White counterparts. High prevalence groups for asthma (rates between 24% and 41%) were characterized by having multiple marginalized identities, experiencing bias-based bullying, and engaging in inhaled substance use. Three of the 10 intersectional groups with a high prevalence of asthma were not inhaled substance users. These findings suggest that stigma may help explain the asthma disparities among marginalized youth. Efforts to reduce asthma disparities in marginalized youth should move beyond pathologizing the individual through overfocusing on health behaviors and attend to root causes, like experiences of stigma. Future studies should examine systemic inflammation as the potential connection between stigma and asthma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Youth with marginalized racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender identities experience bias and stigma in schools that relate to school absences, disengagement, and pushout and may impact learning and achievement over time. Using data from 9^th-12^th graders who participated in the 2019 Minnesota Student Survey (N=80,456) and the 2017-2019 California Healthy Kids Survey (N=512,067), we used Exhaustive Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection (ECHAID) to explore how experiences of bias-based bullying and teacher caring were related to general absences, safety-related absences, and grades among youth with diverse races, ethnicities, sexual and gender identities. Both datasets demonstrated important heterogeneity in the school experiences of youth with marginalized identities, particularly in the context of bias-based bullying victimization and low teacher caring. Structural change in schools should be guided by the experiences of youth with marginalized identities to improve school attendance, safety, and achievement.

Purpose: We investigated associations between sport participation and depressive and anxiety symptoms among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) adolescents, considering social positions and experiences of bias-based bullying specific to sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression (SOGIE-BB). Method: TGD adolescents (n = 10,454) completed a school survey. Adolescents in eighth, ninth, or 11^th grade self-reported sports team participation, elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms, experiencing past-month SOGIE-BB, specific gender identity, race/ethnicity, and access to resources. We identified groups with highest prevalences of elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms by sports team participation (any/none), experiences of SOGIE-BB (any/none), and social positions using Exhaustive Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detections. Via post-hoc tests, we determined whether prevalences differed between adolescents with the same social positions 1) without SOGIE-BB, 2) with sports participation, and 3) without SOGIE-BB and with sports participation. Results: Experiencing SOGIE-BB comprised each of the highest prevalence elevated depressive and anxiety groups. Four of 7 groups with elevated depressive symptoms and 3 of 4 groups with elevated anxiety symptoms reported no sports participation. Among adolescents sharing social positions, experiencing no SOGIE-BB was significantly associated with lower prevalences of elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms. Sports participation was also significantly associated with lower prevalences of elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms, including when experiencing SOGIE-BB. This was true for all but two high prevalence groups. Conclusion: Sports team participation is associated with better mental health among TGD adolescents. Experiencing SOGIE-BB is associated with higher mental health risks. Promoting sports participation and preventing SOGIE-BB could each enhance TGD adolescents' well-being.

Background: Young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men have been referred to as a “hard-to-reach” or “hidden” community in terms of recruiting for research studies. With widespread internet use among this group and young adults in general, web-based avenues represent an important approach for reaching and recruiting members of this community. However, little is known about how participants recruited from various web-based sources may differ from one another. Objective: This study aimed to determine how young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men recruited from various web-based sources differ from one another in terms of participant characteristics and study engagement. Methods: Data were collected as part of a randomized controlled trial of Outsmart HPV, a web-based human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination intervention for young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. From 2019 to 2021, we recruited young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in the United States who were aged 18-25 years and not vaccinated against HPV (n=1227) through various web-based avenues. We classified each participant as being recruited from either (1) social media (eg, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat), (2) a dating app (eg, Grindr, Scruff), or (3) some other digital recruitment source (eg, existing research panel, university-based organization). Analyses compared participants from these 3 groups on demographic and health-related characteristics and metrics involving study engagement. Results: Most demographic and health-related characteristics differed by web-based recruitment source, including race or ethnicity (P<.001), relationship status (P<.001), education level (P<.001), employment status (P<.001), sexual self-identity (P<.001), health insurance status (P<.001), disclosure of sexual orientation (P=.048), and connectedness to the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community (P<.001) The type of device used by participants during study enrollment also differed across groups, with smartphone use higher among participants recruited via dating apps (n=660, 96.6%) compared to those recruited via social media (n=318, 78.9%) or other digital sources (n=85, 60.3%; P<.001). Participants recruited via social media were more likely than those recruited via dating apps to complete follow-up surveys at 3 different timepoints (odds ratios 1.52-2.09, P=.001-.008). These participants also spent a longer amount of time viewing intervention content about HPV vaccination (3.14 minutes vs 2.67 minutes; P=.02). Conclusions: We were able to recruit a large national sample of young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men for a web-based HPV vaccination intervention via multiple methodologies. Participants differed on a range of demographic and health-related characteristics, as well as metrics related to study engagement, based on whether they were recruited from social media, a dating app, or some other digital recruitment source. Findings highlight key issues and considerations that can help researchers better plan and customize future web-based recruitment efforts of young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04032106; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04032106 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/16294