Charting Trajectories of Sexual Identity Development and Mental Health Disparities Among Sexual Minority Youth

项目概要/摘要 此R 01应用程序响应美国国立卫生研究院特别感兴趣的研究通知， 性和性别少数（SGM）人群的健康（NOT-MD-19-001）。性少数青年 面临着许多心理健康方面的差异，包括抑郁症和自杀倾向的高发病率。性少数 身份开发包括几个关键里程碑（例如，意识到非异性恋的吸引力， 质疑自己的性取向，自我认同为性少数群体，并向他人出柜）， 通常发生在青春期。在性身份发展过程中发生的经历 与社会耻辱和压力有关的过程可能会导致这一人群的心理健康问题; 然而，对这一领域的研究不足，了解甚少。解决以下方面的重大差距和局限性： 在这一领域，本项目旨在：（1）识别性别认同发展的共同模式和异质性 当代SMY的里程碑;（2）确定性身份发展与 心理健康问题（即，抑郁和自杀倾向）;（3）确定应对策略， SMY用于导航压力里程碑体验的资源。为了实现这些目标，我们将招募 315名SMY的多样化样本将完成一次性访谈，其中包括生活史日历， 这是一种用于收集回顾性生命过程数据的创新方法。生活史日历将记录 关于性少数群体身份发展过程和心理健康问题的混合方法数据， 青春期分析将包括描述性统计、潜在特征分析、回归建模， 定性内容分析和数据可视化技术。该项目将导致（1）丰富和细致入微的 了解一个复杂和动态的发展过程-性身份的发展， 当代SMY，（2）确定哪些里程碑涉及SMY的痛苦经历，（3） 了解为什么某些里程碑是痛苦的，以及这些事件如何与抑郁症相关 和自杀倾向，以及（4）SMY用于科普压力的应对策略和资源框架， 身份发展。

Project Summary/Abstract This R01 application responds to the National Institutes of Health Notice of Special Interest in Research on the Health of Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) Populations (NOT-MD-19-001). Sexual minority youth (SMY) face a number of mental health disparities, including high rates of depression and suicidality. Sexual minority identity development includes several key milestones (e.g., becoming aware of non-heterosexual attractions, questioning one’s sexual orientation, self-identifying as a sexual minority, and coming out to others) that typically occur during adolescence. Challenging experiences that occur during the sexual identity development process related to social stigma and stress likely contribute to mental health problems for this population; however, this area has been understudied and is poorly understood. To address critical gaps and limitations in this area, this project aims to: (1) Identify common patterns and heterogeneity in sexual identity development milestones among contemporary SMY; (2) Determine the extent to which sexual identity development relates to mental health problems (i.e., depression and suicidality) among SMY; and (3) Identify coping strategies and resources used by SMY to navigate stressful milestone experiences. To accomplish these aims, we will recruit a diverse sample of 315 SMY who will complete a one-time interview that will include life history calendars, which is an innovative method used to collect retrospective life-course data. Life history calendars will capture mixed-methods data about the sexual minority identity development process and mental health problems during adolescence. Analyses will include descriptive statistics, latent profile analysis, regression modeling, qualitative content analysis, and data visualization techniques. This project will result in (1) a rich and nuanced understanding of a complex and dynamic developmental process—sexual identity development among contemporary SMY, (2) identification of which milestones involve distressing experiences for SMY, (3) understanding why certain milestones are distressing and how these events may be associated with depression and suicidality, and (4) a framework of coping strategies and resources used by SMY to cope with stress during identity development.