The mental health of multiethnic lesbian and bisexual youth: The role of self-efficacy, stress and behavioral risks
Craig, S. L., & Keane, G. (2014). The mental health of multiethnic lesbian and bisexual youth: The role of self-efficacy, stress and behavioral risks. The Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health, 18(3), 266–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/19359705.2013.879846
Highlights
Background
Multiethnic lesbian and bisexual adolescent females (MLBAF) are vulnerable to health and mental health risks, such as depression, suicide, self-harm, family and school concerns, and stress resulting from a “triple jeopardy” of marginalization, yet these risks remain virtually unstudied.
Study Description
The study developed knowledge about mental health risks of MLBAF: we examined a risk profile for a sample of MLBAF, and the relationship of self-efficacy to self-reported risks and mental health concerns
This study took place in an urban city in the southeastern U.S. as part of a larger mixed methods project examining the health/mental health risks of MLBAF (n = 116; Mage = 16.87, SDage = 1.57)
Participant Demographics
Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic (61.2%) with subgroups identifying as white Hispanic (24.1%), Hispanic no/other race (29.3%), black Hispanic (5.2%) and black non-Hispanic (33.6%), white non-Hispanic (5.2%), and multiracial (2.6%)
Sexual Orientation (non-mutually exclusive categories): included lesbian (46.6%), gay (5.2%), bisexual (31.9%), queer/pansexual (3.4%), straight (11.2%), and other (1.7%).
Note: Due to small sample size, those identifying as queer/pansexual, straight, transgender or other were removed from analyses
Key Findings
Based on minority stress theory, this pilot study found that the odds of self-reported poor mental health were more than five times higher for each unit increase in stress and almost seven times higher for sexual abuse
The presence of youth substance abuse, academic problems, and younger age made a significant contribution to poor self-reported mental health
Increased stigmatization of their sexual orientation may have contributed to elevated stress, which increased self-reported symptoms of mental health problems
High self-efficacy scores resulted in significantly fewer mental health concerns
Interventions should consider the high rates of stress encountered by lesbians and bisexual Latina youth and focus on supporting their identity development processes and self-efficacy in order to combat their risk for poor mental health.
