Background: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals experience minority stress, especially when they lack social support. SGM young adults may turn to social media in search of a supportive community; however, social media use can become problematic when it interferes with functioning. Problematic social media use may be associated with experiences of minority stress among SGM young adults. Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the associations among social media use, SGM-related internalized stigma, emotional social support, and depressive symptoms in SGM young adults. Methods: Participants were SGM young adults who were regular (≥4 days per week) social media users (N=302) and had enrolled in Facebook smoking cessation interventions. As part of a baseline assessment, participants self-reported problematic social media use (characterized by salience, tolerance, and withdrawal-like experiences; adapted from the Facebook Addiction Scale), hours of social media use per week, internalized SGM stigma, perceived emotional social support, and depressive symptoms. Pearson correlations tested bivariate associations among problematic social media use, hours of social media use, internalized SGM stigma, perceived emotional social support, and depressive symptoms. Multiple linear regression examined the associations between the aforementioned variables and problematic social media use and was adjusted for gender identity. Results: A total of 302 SGM young adults were included in the analyses (assigned female at birth: 218/302, 72.2%; non-Hispanic White: 188/302, 62.3%; age: mean 21.9 years, SD 2.2 years). The sexual identity composition of the sample was 59.3% (179/302) bisexual and/or pansexual, 17.2% (52/302) gay, 16.9% (51/302) lesbian, and 6.6% (20/302) other. The gender identity composition of the sample was 61.3% (185/302) cisgender; 24.2% (73/302) genderqueer, fluid, nonbinary, or other; and 14.6% (44/302) transgender. Problematic social media use averaged 2.53 (SD 0.94) on a 5-point scale, with a median of 17 hours of social media use per week (approximately 2.5 h per day). Participants with greater problematic social media use had greater internalized SGM stigma (r=0.22; P<.001) and depressive symptoms (r=0.22; P<.001) and lower perceived emotional social support (r=−0.15; P=.007). Greater internalized SGM stigma remained was significantly associated with greater problematic social media use after accounting for the time spent on social media and other correlates (P<.001). In addition, participants with greater depressive symptoms had marginally greater problematic social media use (P=.05). In sum, signs of problematic social media use were more likely to occur among SGM young adults who had internalized SGM stigma and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Taken together, problematic social media use among SGM young adults was associated with negative psychological experiences, including internalized stigma, low social support, and depressive symptoms. SGM young adults experiencing minority stress may be at risk for problematic social media use. Trial Registration:

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性和性别少数群体年轻人使用有问题的社交媒体：观察性研究

背景：性和性别少数 (SGM) 个体经历少数压力，尤其是当他们缺乏社会支持时。SGM 的年轻人可能会转向社交媒体以寻求支持的社区；但是，社交媒体的使用在干扰功能时可能会出现问题。有问题的社交媒体使用可能与 SGM 年轻人的少数压力经历有关。目的：本研究的目的是检查社交媒体使用、SGM 相关内化污名、情感社会支持和 SGM 年轻人抑郁症状之间的关联。方法：参与者是定期（每周 4 天以上）社交媒体用户（N=302）并参加 Facebook 戒烟干预的 SGM 年轻人。作为基线评估的一部分，参与者自我报告有问题的社交媒体使用（以显着性、耐受性和类似退缩的经历为特征；改编自 Facebook 成瘾量表）、每周使用社交媒体的时间、内化的 SGM 污名、感知的情绪社会支持和抑郁症状。Pearson 相关性测试了有问题的社交媒体使用、社交媒体使用时间、内化 SGM 污名、感知的情感社会支持和抑郁症状之间的双变量关联。多元线性回归检查了上述变量与有问题的社交媒体使用之间的关联，并针对性别认同进行了调整。结果：共有 302 名 SGM 年轻人被纳入分析（出生时指定为女性：218/302，72.2%；非西班牙裔白人：188/302，62.3%；年龄：平均 21.9 岁，SD 2.2 岁）。样本的性别认同构成为 59.3% (179/302) 双性恋和/或泛性恋、17.2% (52/302) 男同性恋、16.9% (51/302) 女同性恋和 6.6% (20/302) 其他。样本的性别认同构成为61.3%（185/302）顺性别；24.2% (73/302) 性别酷儿、流动性、非二元性或其他；和 14.6% (44/302) 的跨性别者。在 5 分制上，有问题的社交媒体使用平均为 2.53 (SD 0.94)，平均每周使用社交媒体 17 小时（每天约 2.5 小时）。社交媒体使用问题较多的参与者具有更大的内化 SGM 污名（r =0.22；P<.001) 和抑郁症状 ( r =0.22; P <.001) 和较低的感知情感社会支持 ( r =-0.15; P =.007)。考虑到在社交媒体上花费的时间和其他相关因素后，更大的内化 SGM 污名与更大的社交媒体使用问题显着相关（P <.001）。此外，抑郁症状较重的参与者使用社交媒体的问题稍多（P =.05）。总而言之，社交媒体使用问题的迹象更可能出现在具有内化 SGM 污名和抑郁症状的 SGM 年轻人中。结论：总而言之，SGM 年轻人使用有问题的社交媒体与负面心理体验有关，包括内化污名、低社会支持和抑郁症状。承受少数压力的 SGM 年轻人可能面临社交媒体使用问题的风险。试用注册：