The Relationship Between Supportive Adults and Symptoms of Internalizing Disorders Among Sexual Minority Adolescents

Introduction: Past research has shown that sexual minority youth (SMY; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth) are at disproportionate risk for internalizing disorders (McLaughlin et al., 2012) and three to five times more likely to attempt suicide (Garofalo et al., 1998; Hatzenbuehler, 2011; Marshal et al., 2011). Protective factors, such as support from a parent or significant adult, have been found to lessen the effect of risk for psychopathology on later functioning (Pianta and Walsh, 1998; Zolkoski & Bullock, 2012). Parental social support has been associated with lower risk for substance use in SMY (Goldbach et al., 2014). However, it is unclear whether a supportive adult might have a protective effect on symptoms of internalizing in SMY. Through a life history interview (Caspi et al., 1996), we examine the relationship between interview-reported internalizing symptoms and the presence of supportive adults. 

Methods: Fifty-two SMY (aged 14-20; representing the ethnic diversity of a major urban city) recruited at community sexual minority-affirming agencies spoke for 90-120 minutes about salient life experiences, memories, and stressors. Internalizing symptoms were coded as reports of symptoms of depression, anxiety, or self-harm behaviors. Supportive adults were coded as reports of a supportive family member, supportive adult at school, or parent. Trained graduate-level raters double coded the transcribed life history interviews, achieving agreement of 92%. Chi square analyses were run to determine whether reports of internalizing symptoms were related to the presence of a significance adult in sexual minority youth’s life.

Results: Youth with a supportive adult at school reported anxiety more often than those who did not have a supportive adult at school. However, those youth with a supportive adult or role model at school were less likely to report self-harm. Researchers additionally found differences by self-reported ethnicity such that individuals from Caucasian backgrounds reported parental or family adult support.

Conclusions: These findings have significant implications for prevention/intervention efforts. Sexual minority youth reporting anxiety may be seeking support from teachers at their school. Further, the support they receive may be protective from self-harm.

Broadly, assessing the presence of adult support in a sexual minority youth’s life may be important to understanding the risk of youth towards depression symptomotology. Importantly, this work informs subsequent studies that may examine the buffering role of parental support prospectively in sexual minority youth functioning.