Meg D. Bishop

The Interpersonal Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS) has been widely applied in suicide research, including studies involving LGBTQ+ people. However, longitudinal tests of the theory, particularly those integrating the moderating role of acquired capability for suicide, remain limited. The present study evaluated the IPTS using a three‐wave longitudinal design with data from 662 LGBTQ+ youth ages 15–21 at baseline located in two major U.S. regions. Latent structural equation modeling was used to examine whether perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness at Wave 1 predicted suicidal behavior at Wave 3 indirectly through suicidal ideation at Wave 2, and whether these associations varied as a function of acquired capability for suicide. Perceived burdensomeness significantly predicted later suicidal behavior through suicidal ideation, whereas the indirect effect from thwarted belongingness was not significant. The indirect effect from perceived burdensomeness to subsequent suicidal behavior was stronger at higher levels of acquired capability for suicide. The indirect effect from thwarted belongingness was not contingent on acquired capability for suicide. These findings provide partial longitudinal support for the IPTS among LGBTQ+ youth and underscore the importance of acquired capability for suicide in understanding escalation from suicidal thoughts to action. Implications for future research are discussed.

Sexual and gender minority youth of color (SGM YOC) face compounded mental health disparities due to oppression experienced at the intersection of racism, cissexism, and heterosexism. Parental responses to youth's sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) are critical in shaping youth mental health outcomes, yet prior research has often simplified these responses into a unidimensional acceptance–rejection continuum. Using data from the 2022 LGBTQ National Teen Survey ( n = 3187 SGM YOC), this study challenged such an oversimplified conceptualization by exploring heterogeneous patterns of parental responses to children's SOGI among SGM YOC. Further, we also examined the distinct implications of each identified profile for SGM YOC's mental health problems and how the association between intersectional microaggressions and mental health problems might vary across the identified profiles. Three distinct SOGI‐specific parental response profiles were found: High Rejection Low Acceptance Response (24.10%), Low Rejection Low Acceptance Response (50.30%), and Low Rejection High Acceptance Response (25.60%). Profile membership varied by race/ethnicity, sex assigned at birth, gender identity, sexual orientation, and caregiver education level. Youth in the High Rejection Low Acceptance Response profile reported significantly higher levels of mental health problems compared with those in the Low Rejection Low Acceptance Response and Low Rejection High Acceptance Response profiles. SOGI‐specific parental response profile membership moderated the association between intersectional microaggressions and mental health problems. Intersectional microaggressions were more strongly associated with mental health problems among youth in the Low Rejection Low Acceptance Response profile than among those in the High Rejection Low Acceptance Response profile, with higher overall mental health problems in the latter profile. By identifying diverse patterns of SOGI‐specific parental responses and the differential consequences for understanding how SGM YOC's intersectional minority stress relates to mental well‐being, our findings underscore the importance of culturally responsive interventions that engage parental figures as active agents of affirmation, support, and socialization, ultimately fostering SGM YOC's positive development amid intersecting systems of oppression.

The link between state policies and LGBTQ+ youth mental health is well‐established, yet less well‐understood are the mechanisms that drive these associations. We used a sample from the LGBTQ+ National Teen Survey (n = 8368) collected in 2022 to examine whether and to what degree LGBTQ+ inclusive school strategies, student perceptions of school safety, and experiences with bias‐based bullying and peer victimization explain the association between state LGBTQ+ youth‐focused policies and LGBTQ+ youth mental health symptomology. We observed significant indirect effects between policy and LGBTQ+ youth mental health through all four constructs, suggesting that each of these more proximal school experiences was independently implicated in this association. Findings underscore how state policies shape LGBTQ+ youth mental health symptomology via more proximal contexts and emphasize the importance of policy implementation following enactment.

Sexual minority youth experience disproportionate rates of mental health symptomatology relative to their heterosexual peers. Less is known about why these disparities have persisted despite growing public awareness of sexual diversity. The developmental collision hypothesis states that increased cultural visibility of sexual diversity has accelerated the developmental timing of sexual minority identity formation processes such that they collide with early adolescence, a uniquely sensitive period for experiencing identity-based stigma and associated mental health vulnerability. To test this hypothesis, levels and relations between ages of sexual minority identity development milestones, frequency of LGBT-related victimization, and depressive symptoms were examined across three age-matched but cohort-distinct samples of sexual minority adolescents. Data come from three secondary datasets of sexual minority youth who were adolescents in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, respectively: the Challenges and Coping Study, the Victimization and Mental Health among High Risk Youths Study, and the Risk and Protective Factors for Suicide among Sexual Minority Youth Study (n = 1312; M_age = 17.34, SD = 1.30; 52% female). Adolescents from more recent cohorts reported earlier mean ages of several milestones but similar frequencies of LGBT-related victimization relative to those from less recent cohorts. Path analysis models showed that earlier milestones were associated indirectly with more depressive symptoms through LGBT-related victimization. Notably, earlier ages of self-identification and disclosure of a sexual minority identity were also directly related to less depressive symptoms. Few generational differences in relations between constructs emerged. Findings garner initial support for the developmental collision hypothesis and suggest that LGBT-related victimization, rather than earlier milestones themselves, increases mental health vulnerability.

Prior studies have reported generational declines in the ages at which sexual minority people first experience sexual identity development milestones (e.g., first awareness of same-sex attraction, self-realization of a sexual minority identity, same-sex sexual behavior, and disclosure); yet such studies have relied on retrospective data from adults that may conflate maturational age influences with cohort influences. In the current study, we disentangled age from cohort influences on milestone timing by harmonizing secondary data from three large and diverse datasets of cisgender sexual minority adolescents ages 15–19 years old (n = 1,310; M_age = 17.34, SD = 1.30) collected at three distinct sociohistorical eras of sexual diversity (the 1990s, the 2000s, and the 2010s). With three age-matched but sociohistorically distinct cohorts, we compared milestone timing and pacing across cohorts, as well as subgroup differences among adolescents with social identities at the intersections of cohort with sex, sexual identity, and race/ethnicity, respectively. A series of multiple regression models suggested that more recent generations of sexual minority adolescents reported earlier ages of first self-identification and disclosure than less recent generations; however, adolescents reported similar ages of awareness of same-sex attraction and same-sex sexual behavior across cohorts. Insights from this study build support for cohort differences in the timing of some sexual identity developmental processes and underscore the importance of accounting for both maturational age and sociohistorical change when measuring the sexual identity development processes of sexual minority youth.

Sexual identity development milestones mark the ages at which sexual minority people first experience key developmental events including same-sex attraction, self-realization of a sexual minority identity, same-sex sexual behavior and romantic relationships, and sexual identity disclosure. Most studies of milestones use variable-centered, rather than person-centered approaches, potentially obscuring diversity in patterns across milestones. Using data from The Generations Study, the first national probability sample of White, Black, and Latinx sexual minority adults in the United States (n = 1,492), we examined variability in milestone timing and patterning using a latent profile analysis approach. We identified four distinct profiles, characterized by variability in milestone mean ages, pacing, and sequences: an early adolescence profile (22.9%), a middle adolescence profile (33.6%), a late adolescence profile (27.6%), and an adulthood profile (15.9%). Profiles were demographically distinct, varying by birth cohort, sexual identity, race/ethnicity, gender identity, and childhood gender nonconformity. Results suggest developmental and demographic diversity in the emergence of sexual identity development across the life course, with implications for sexual minority health and thriving.

Publicly engaged social science can help to maximize research use for program and policy change toward equity. In what follows, we describe The Stories and Numbers Project as an example of publicly engaged research that moves the robust science of supporting LGBTQ+ (and all) students beyond the university and into the public sphere. We provide an overview of LGBTQ+ young people's experiences of their school climate and the science of LGBTQ+‐supportive safe school strategies to contextualize the need for the Project. We discuss the theoretical foundations of the Project, as well as the experiences and resources that made the Project possible. We outline our multi‐pronged strategy for research dissemination to LGBTQ+ students and key nodes of their social networks. Finally, we conclude with the lessons learned from the Stories and Numbers Project, and how they can be leveraged to activate research for social change.

Disparities in mental health and bullying between SGM youth and their heterosexual, cisgender peers are well-established. There remain questions about whether the onset and progression of these disparities differ across adolescence—knowledge critical for screening, prevention, and intervention. To address this, the current study estimates age-based patterns of homophobic bullying, gender-based bullying, and mental health across groups of adolescents defined by sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). Data are from the 2013–2015 cycle of the California Healthy Kids Survey (n = 728,204). We estimated the age-specific prevalence rates of past-year homophobic bullying, gender-based bullying, and depressive symptoms using three- and two-way interactions by (1) age, sex, and sexual identity and (2) age and gender identity, respectively. We also tested how adjustments for bias-based bullying alter predicted prevalence rates of past-year mental health symptoms. Results showed that SOGI differences in homophobic bullying, gender-based bullying, and mental health were already present among youth aged 11 and younger. SOGI differences by age were attenuated when adjusting models for homophobic and gender-based bullying, particularly among transgender youth. SOGI-related bias-based bullying and mental health disparities were present early and generally persisted throughout adolescence. Strategies that prevent exposure to homophobic and gender-based bullying would significantly reduce SOGI-related disparities in mental health across adolescence.