Abstract: The Role of Adverse Childhood Events and Minority Stress on the Mental Health of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth (Society for Social Work and Research 22nd Annual Conference - Achieving Equal Opportunity, Equity, and Justice)

Schedule:

Saturday, January 13, 2018: 9:06 AM

Supreme Court (ML 4) (Marriott Marquis Washington DC)

* noted as presenting author

Shelley Craig, PhD, Associate Dean & Associate Professor, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Ashley Austin, PhD, Associate Professor, Barry University, Miami Shores, FL

Lauren McInroy, MSW, Doctoral Candidate, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Sandra D'Souza, Master's Student, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Andrew Eaton, MSW, Group Programming Coordinator, AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), Toronto, ON, Canada

Lance McCready, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

M. Alex Wagaman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Michael Dentato, PhD, Assistant Professor, Loyola University, Chicago, Chicago, IL

Background: Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) experience significant adversity, including minority stressors which negatively impact mental health and impede social, economic, and educational opportunities. While trauma, specifically adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), has been found to predict health and mental health disparities in large national samples (CDC, 2013), there are no studies to date exploring the prevalence or impact of ACEs in samples of SGMY. To address this gap, this study: (1) explored the prevalence of ACEs in a large sample of SGMY (2) compared the findings with national trends in the general population and (3) examined the influence ACE scores and minority stress on depression.

Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted with SGMY (n=6,317). Inclusion: (1) 14-29; (2) SGMY; (3) and reside in the United States or Canada. Recruitment: facilitated via venue-based and purposive online sampling to agencies and on social media. Participants (M = 18.22, SD = 2.45) represented a range of identities (non-mutually exclusive categories). Sexuality: pansexual (29%), bisexual (26%), queer (21%), lesbian (15%), gay (15%), asexual (11%), and other (8%). Gender Identity: female (41%), non-binary (24%), male (17%), genderqueer (17%); trans/transgender (15%), and other (9%). Measures: (1) ACEs (Felitti et al., 1998); (2) Internalized Homo/Transphobia (modified Nungesser, 1983), (3) Interpersonal and Environmental LGBTQ Microaggression Subscales (Woodford et al., 2013) and (4) Depression subscale of the DSM–5 Self-Rated Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure. Descriptive analyses examined the prevalence of ACEs among SGMY. Using general linear modelling (GLM), regressions were conducted in SPSS to identify the contribution of ACEs, internalized homo/transphobia and minority stressors to SGMY depression.

Results: SGMY had high rates of trauma, reporting multiple ACEs (M = 2.93, SD = 2.42) including notably high prevalence rates of emotional abuse (51%) and living with a family member with mental illness (52%). Compared to national samples, ACE scores among SGMY were higher across 8 of the 10 categories. Based on results of the GLM, the model explained a significant proportion of variance in depression scores, adjusted R² = .259, F(11, 3277) = 105.32, p < .001. In particular, ACEs, (b = 1.009, t(3277) = 12.842, p < .001), internalized homophobia (b = .432, t(3277) = 7.768, p < .001), interpersonal microaggressions (b = .212, t(3277) = 6.369, p < .001) and environmental microaggressions b = .419, t(3277) = 8.408, p < .001 significantly predicted depression.

Implications: SGMY reported a higher number of ACEs compared to the general population. Moreover, ACE scores and minority stressors notably impact SGMY depression. The high rates of childhood adversity, as well as interpersonal and environmental minority stressors experienced by SGMY underscore the need for more equitable and socially just systems of care that attend to prevention and intervention needs of this high-risk population. This study, the first to examine ACEs among SGMY, expands knowledge about SGMY risks to include significant childhood trauma as well as minority stressors. This more accurate and nuanced understanding of SGMY experiences highlights the need for empirically based interventions that are both affirmative and trauma-informed.