Gender nonconforming people experienced higher levels of peer victimization, which – in turn – led to higher psychological distress.
This is according to a study – “Gender Nonconformity, Minority Stress, and Psychological Distress Among Sexual Minority Adolescents” by Brian C. Thoma, Candice L. Biernesser, and Emma Win – that appeared in LGBT Health.
The researchers noted that sexual minority adolescents (SMAs) have disproportionate experiences of mental health symptoms during adolescence, and minority stress contributes to mental health inequities among SMAs. Gender nonconformity (GNC) could place SMAs at higher risk for minority stress and subsequent mental health symptoms.
The researchers wanted to examine associations between GNC, minority stress, and psychological distress among SMAs. They tapped SMAs aged 12–17 years (n = 455; mean age = 15.52 years) in the US, making them complete a cross-sectional online survey from February to July 2022, including measures of GNC, peer victimization, family rejection, negative expectations, negative disclosure experiences, internalized homonegativity, and psychological distress. Path analysis was used to examine associations between GNC, minority stressors, and psychological distress, including indirect effects of GNC on psychological distress via minority stress.
Some of the findings included:
- GNC was associated with higher levels of peer victimization and negative expectations and lower internalized homonegativity among SMAs.
- Higher levels of peer victimization and negative expectations were associated with higher psychological distress.
- GNC was indirectly related to higher levels of psychological distress via higher peer victimization.
In a gist: GNC was indirectly related to psychological distress among SMAs via peer victimization, the researchers stressed.
And even if all SMAs “could benefit from interventions designed to reduce peer victimization and increase their capacity to cope with minority stress, such interventions may be particularly beneficial for SMAs who are gender nonconforming.”
