Gender/Sexual Minority Young Adults in the Southwest: Experiences of Violence and Mental Health

Background: Research related to gender/sexual minority (GSM) young adults is growing, but remains limited, in the field of social welfare. Current literature reflects higher rates of depression, anxiety, homelessness, trauma, and other unmet needs. Familial support and a sense of belonging to a community act as protective factors. As research progresses, it is necessary to investigate experiential differences within this heterogeneous community.

Methods: Data were gathered the Spring of 2015 in collaboration between ASU master's level Social Work students and a GSM young adult serving organization. Groups within the total sample (N=102) included gender minorities (GM) (n=50) and people of color (POC) (n=44). The purpose of this secondary analysis was to study the experiences of physical, sexual, and self-inflicted violence, as well as rates of  mental illness diagnosis and suicidal ideation of GSM young adults ages 14-30. Analysis of the data included descriptive and bivariate statistics with variables related to violence and mental health. Logistic regression tested associations between comparison groups and violence/mental health variables.

Results: Mean age was 22.35. Individuals in the sample reported 26 sexual orientations and 28 genders. The sample expressed high rates of sexual violence, physical violence, diagnosis of a mental illness, self-harm, and suicidality. Overall, the majority of respondents reported having been “gay-bashed”, physically assaulted, sexually assaulted, diagnosed with a mental illness, and/or having self-harmed. Many also reported having been assaulted because of their gender identity/expression and 23.5% reported having been in a physically abusive relationship. An astounding 81.4% reported ever experiencing suicidal ideation (47.1% of the total sample reported never having attempted suicide and 34.3% reported having attempted suicide one or more times). Significant associations were found between gender minority POC and self-harm (.94, p<.01). Significant associations were also found between non-GM POC and having been sexually assaulted (.017, p<.05) and self-harm (-.672, p<.05). No significant associations were found between GM and non-GM whites and the variables of interest. The sample was too small to discern relationships between familial support and suicidality among sub-groups in the sample (e.g., GM people of color). However, non-GM POC in the sample reported the highest rate of a positive family reaction to coming out and report the lowest rate of having a suicide attempt. Gender minority people of color reported lowest rates of positive family reaction and reported highest rates of both suicidal ideation and at least one suicide attempt.

Implications: While the small sample size is a limitation, research is scarce regarding GSM young adults in the southwest. This study indicates GSM young adults are in need of increased services regarding the differences of experiences in violence and mental health--particularly for GSM people and communities of color who continue to report disparate experiences. These results provide evidence indicating that more investigation into the interaction between protective factors, experiences of violence and suicidal ideation, and race/ethnicity is needed.