The Role of Supportive Adults on Sexual Minority Mental Health Symptoms and Isolating Behaviors

Background and Purpose: Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY; i.e. non-heterosexual and/or transgender) report unique stressors related to their sexual/gender minority status that go beyond the common stressors associated with adolescence. Recent research has begun exploring how SGMY demonstrate resilience and coping strategies. Social support from adults is well associated with healthy coping among adolescents in general and research is showing that this may be particularly true for SGMY, protecting from negative outcomes like externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Parents and family can often be a source of support for SGMY, but the disclosure and coming out process brings additional stressors not faced by non-SGMY. The role of non-familial adult support is particularly interesting in these cases. However, little data has been collected from the point-of-view of SGMY to determine how adults are supporting them. This study sought to investigate the link between SGMY mental health and adult social support.

Methods: A purposive sample of SGMY (N=52) was interviewed in Los Angeles, CA in the spring and summer of 2014. Youth were recruited at SGMY community centers and through school clubs affirming support for SGMY. Youth had to identify as non-heterosexual (e.g. gay, lesbian, bisexual) and be fluent in English or Spanish to qualify. Each semi-structured interview was between 90-120 minutes and employed a life history calendar to add historical structure. All interviews were conducted privately by clinically-trained research assistants. Interviews were coded using techniques based in grounded theory. Stress and coping were a priori sensitizing concepts but codes for supportive adults developed naturally in the interviews. All interviews were coded by at least two master’s-level research assistants with a consensus reliability of 92%. Chi-square cross-tabs in SPSS v.19 were used to determine whether reports of mental health symptoms were related to the presence of a supportive adult in the SGMY’s life

Results: Ages of the youth interviewed ranged from 14 to 20 years (M=16.56, SD=1.66). Self-identified race/ethnicities were: 40.4% Latino, 15.7% African-American, 19.2% Asian, 26.9% Caucasian. Sexual orientation labels provided were: 25.0% gay, 13.5% lesbian, 30.8% bisexual, 15.4% pansexual, 1.9% asexual, and 13.5% other (non-heterosexual). Chi-square analysis showed that having LGBT teachers or role models was associated with fewer reports of self-harm behaviors, χ² (1, N=52) = 4.66, p<.05. Youth who reported having a supportive adult at school were less likely to report isolation, χ² (1, N=52) = 4.49, p<.05, while half of youth that didn’t report a supportive adult at school reported isolating behaviors. Self-reported statements of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts did not demonstrate any relation to reports of supportive adults at home or school.

Conclusions and Implications: The present study has significant implications for SGMY at risk for self-harm or isolation. The clinical benefits of having supportive adults at school for SGMY are apparent and may help reduced isolating and self-harm in this population. This study did not specifically look at supportive clubs at school, which by their existence signal the presence of a supportive adult. Future studies may further examine the buffering role of parental support.