Examining the Role of Peer and Family Belongingness in the Mental Health of Black LGBTQ + Youth
Watts, K. J., Wagaman, M. A., Eaton, A. D., Leung, V. W. Y., & Craig, S. L. (2023). Examining the Role of Peer and Family Belongingness in the Mental Health of Black LGBTQ + Youth. Child & Youth Services, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/0145935X.2023.2261364
Highlights
Background
Black LGBTQ+ youth navigate systematic environmental stress, racial minority stress, and gender and sexuality-based victimization and discrimination, which may contribute to poorer mental health.
There is a significant gap in knowledge surrounding Black LGBTQ+ youth’s mental and physical health, resulting in unmet needs (e.g., culturally-relevant intervention models) among this population.
Study Description
This study explores the relationship between peer and family belonging and the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ+ Black youth.
The data used for this study came from the Project #Queery Study, a mixed methods online survey of 6,309 LGBTQ+ youth in the United States and Canada and their health, mental health, identity development, and sense of community. 181 Black LGBTQ+ participants were drawn from the data as the sample.
Linear regression was used to understand the relationship between mental health and the protective factors explored.
Unique Findings
Peer belongingness and family belongingness had significant negative correlations with depression.
There was little to no correlation between family and peer belongingness and anxiety.
Conclusion
Further research is needed to understand the protective role of expansive forms of belongingness in order for intersectional and supportive intervention models to be developed from Black LGBTQ+ Youth.
This research highlighted three primary implications for practitioners working with Black LGBTQ+ youth.
Overall, youth in this study had moderate experiences of family belongingness. Practitioners must avoid generalizing and stereotyping the experiences of Black families and assess their own personal biases and assumptions surrounding this community. Further research is to be completed connected to family belonging as the study shows a significant connection between this factor and self-perception of mental well-being.
Anxiety was not tied to peer or family belongingness in the same way that depression was. Further research will be required to understand how these experiences are related to each other.
This finding highlights that practitioners need to consider relationship-based intervention that foster belonging, connection and relation security for youth who are presenting with signs of depression.
It must be acknowledged that there is a strong distinction between the association between peer and familial belongingness and self-rated mental health.
Self-rated mental health had a significantly strong association with family belongingness, but no significant association with peer belongingness.
This highlights the need for further research to identify the power of selfperception of mental health in relationship to identity-based belonging.
This is reflective of previous research which highlights how family belongingness provides a form of protection against racism that peer belongingness cannot.
Practitioners must consider more expansive assessments of belongingness beyond social support and move away from identity neutral assessments and interventions.
While developing a treatment plan, incorporating an intersectional lens that acknowledges mutual aid in Black communities may connect Black LGBTQ+ youth with supportive peers.
