A Longitudinal Test of the Relative and Interactive Effects of Minority Stress and Sexual Victimization on Mental Health Among Sexual Minority Adolescents

Sexual minority adolescents (SMAs) are at increased risk for adverse mental health outcomes (e.g., posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms, suicidal ideation) compared to heterosexual adolescents. Most research has focused on the relationship between minority stress (e.g., discrimination) and mental health among SMAs. However, the extent to which minority stress and other forms of victimization, including sexual victimization, simultaneously influence SMAs’ mental health is understudied. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to examine the relative and interactive effects of minority stress and sexual victimization on changes in mental health over 6 months among SMAs. The analytic sample included 967 SMA ages 14 to 17 (68.15% cisgender girls, 57.91% non-Latinx White) who completed online surveys at 2 time points as part of a longitudinal study. Bivariate correlations indicated positive associations between minority stress and sexual victimization at baseline and each mental health outcome at baseline and 6-month follow-up. When minority stress and sexual victimization at baseline were included as simultaneous predictors of each mental health outcome at 6-month follow-up (controlling for each mental health outcome at baseline), minority stress was significantly associated with increases in posttraumatic stress symptoms, depression symptoms, and suicidal ideation. In contrast, sexual victimization and the interaction between minority stress and sexual victimization were not significant. These findings provide longitudinal support for the role of minority stress in the mental health of SMAs, highlighting the need for interventions that target minority stress to improve mental health. Given that sexual victimization was not significantly associated with mental health after accounting for minority stress, additional research is needed to better understand the relative influences of minority stress and sexual victimization on the mental health of SMAs.