Families Matter: Social Support and Mental Health Trajectories Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) adolescents are at greater risk for mental health problems than their heterosexual peers, in part due to victimization. Social support, particularly from families, has been identified as an important promotive factor. However, little is known about how...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of adolescent health Vol. 59; no. 6; pp. 674 - 680
Main Authors: McConnell, Elizabeth A., Birkett, Michelle, Mustanski, Brian
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.12.2016
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent development
Bullying
Crime Victims - psychology
Family - psychology
Family support
Female
Humans
LGBT
LGBT youth
Longitudinal
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Mental health
Mental Health - statistics & numerical data
Pediatrics
Peer Group
Sexual and Gender Minorities - psychology
Social Support
Stress, Psychological - epidemiology
Young Adult
Adolescent development
Longitudinal
Family support
Mental health
LGBT youth
LGBT
Social support
ISSN:1054-139X, 1879-1972
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) adolescents are at greater risk for mental health problems than their heterosexual peers, in part due to victimization. Social support, particularly from families, has been identified as an important promotive factor. However, little is known about how LGBT youth experience multiple forms of support or how early support predicts mental health across adolescence and into young adulthood. In an analytic sample of 232 LGBT youth aged 16–20 years at baseline across 5.5 years, we compared developmental trajectories of psychological distress between three empirically derived social support cluster types at baseline: those who reported uniformly low support, those who reported uniformly high support, and those who reported nonfamily support (i.e., high peer and significant other but low family support). Longitudinal multilevel modeling, controlling for age, victimization, and social support at each wave, indicated key differences between cluster types. Youth in the low and nonfamily support clusters reported greater distress across all time points relative to youth in the high support cluster; however, they also showed a sharper decline in distress. Youth in the nonfamily cluster gained family support across adolescence, such that they resembled youth in the high support cluster by early adulthood. Findings underscore the importance of family support for LGBT youth. Youth who lack family support, but who have other forms of support, report a decrease in psychological distress and an increase in family support across adolescence. Youth who are low in all forms of support continue to exhibit high distress.
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ISSN:1054-139X
1879-1972
DOI:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.07.026