Purpose

The aim of this study is to identify and evaluate the efficacy of adolescent protective factors against mental health (MH) outcomes in young adulthood of sexual minority identifying youth (SMY).

Methods

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we identified potential protective factors (e.g., individual factors like self-esteem, family factors like family communication, and community factors like caring teachers) at baseline (1994) when the sample was school-aged for SMY. SMY included those who identified their sexual identity as mostly heterosexual, bisexual, mostly homosexual, or 100% homosexual. MH outcomes (depression, anxiety, or suicidality) were assessed at 14-year follow-up.

Results

Approximately 14,800 youth completed baseline and follow-up surveys, where 13.5% identified as SMY. Of SMY, 57% had a MH outcome compared to 37% of non-SMY (p < .05). Not all factors were protective for SMY. At the individual level, emotional well-being (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] .56, 95% confidence interval [CI] .41–.78) and self-esteem (AOR .79, 95% CI .66–.95) were found to be protective for MH outcomes in regression models. At the family level, family connectedness (AOR .82, 95% CI .71–.95) was found to be protective. At the community level, school connectedness (AOR .78, 95% CI .66–.92) and caring teachers (AOR .76, 95% CI .58–.99) were found to be protective for SMY.

Conclusion

Factors at the individual, family, and community (e.g., caring teachers) levels appear to be protective against MH outcomes unique to SMY. Developing interventions focused on protective factors have potential to prevent health disparities.

中文翻译：

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调查与性少数青年心理健康结果相关的保护因素

目的

本研究的目的是确定和评估青少年保护因素对性少数识别青年 (SMY) 青年期心理健康 (MH) 结局的疗效。

方法

使用来自全国青少年到成人健康纵向研究的数据，我们在基线（1994 年）确定了潜在的保护因素（例如，自尊等个人因素、家庭沟通等家庭因素和有爱心的教师等社区因素）。 SMY的学龄期。SMY 包括那些认为自己的性身份主要是异性恋、双性恋、主要是同性恋或 100% 同性恋的人。在 14 年的随访中评估了 MH 结局（抑郁、焦虑或自杀）。

结果

大约 14,800 名青年完成了基线和后续调查，其中 13.5% 确定为 SMY。在 SMY 中，57% 有 MH 结局，而在非 SMY 中这一比例为 37% ( p < .05)。并非所有因素都对 SMY 有保护作用。在个人层面，情绪健康（调整优势比 [AOR] .56, 95% 置信区间 [CI] .41–.78）和自尊（AOR .79, 95% CI .66–.95）在回归模型中发现对 MH 结果具有保护作用。在家庭层面，家庭联系（AOR .82, 95% CI .71–.95）被发现具有保护作用。在社区层面，发现学校联系 (AOR .78, 95% CI .66–.92) 和有爱心的教师 (AOR .76, 95% CI .58–.99) 对 SMY 具有保护作用。

结论

个人、家庭和社区（例如，有爱心的教师）层面的因素似乎对 SMY 独有的 MH 结果具有保护作用。制定以保护因素为重点的干预措施有可能防止健康差异。