Hidden Patterns, Lasting Effects: Violence Victimization and Perpetration Typologies and Longitudinal Implications in LGBTQ+ Adolescents

• In Event: Cross-Cutting Research on Risk and Resilience Factors Among LGBTQIA+ Individuals

Abstract

Objective: Emerging evidence suggests that LGBTQ+ adolescents are facing alarmingly high risk for experiencing multiple forms of violent victimization (Mitchel et al., 2014; Myers et al., 2020) and engaging in perpetration (Galán et al., 2021; Goldbach et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2020). These experiences are often associated with adverse academic and mental health outcomes. However, most research on violence among LGBTQ+ adolescents has adopted variable-centered approaches that fail to capture the complexity of co-occurring victimization and perpetration patterns. Person-centered approaches, such as latent profile analysis (LPA), are better suited to identify subgroups with distinct constellations of violence experiences and behaviors. In addition, while consequences of violence involvement have been documented, prior research is primarily cross-sectional, limiting the ability to establish temporal relations between violence exposure/behavior and developmental outcomes. This study applied LPA to identify typologies of violent victimization and perpetration among LGBTQ+ adolescents and examined how class membership was prospectively associated with mental health and school absenteeism.

Theoretical Framework: This study is grounded in minority stress theory (MST; Meyer, 2003) and its developmental adaptation (Goldbach & Gibbs, 2017). MST posits that LGBTQ+ individuals face unique minority stressors (e.g., homophobic bullying) in addition to general life stressors (e.g., peer victimization, sexual violence), and both stressors collectively contribute to adverse outcomes (Frost & Meyer, 2023). The developmental adaptation highlights the need to consider social contexts (e.g., school, peer) when applying MST (Goldbach & Gibbs, 2017). We also draw on the “victim-offender overlap” perspective (Jennings et al., 2012), in that jointly modeling victimization and perpetration can help identify distinct violence-involved subgroups.

Data Sources: Data were drawn from a randomized controlled trial of the Sources of Strength suicide prevention program, conducted in 20 high schools across Colorado (Espelage et al., 2024). We used data from the waitlist control group (n = 351) at Wave 2 (spring 2018) and Wave 3 (fall 2018).

Methods: We conducted LPA using Wave 2 data, and indicators included homophobic bullying and perpetration, sexual harassment victimization and perpetration, and peer victimization. Analyses were conducted in Mplus (Muthén & Muthén, 2023). We then performed regression analyses to examine associations between Wave 2 class membership and outcomes at Wave 3, controlling for demographic covariates. Outcome variables included anxiety and depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and school absenteeism.

Findings: A three-class solution best fits the data. Class 1 reported the least violence exposure/behavior. Class 2 showed high levels in homophobic bullying and perpetration, as well as peer victimization. Class 3 reported the highest levels in all indicators. Compared to Class 1, Class 2 showed significantly higher anxiety and depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts, while Class 3 reported significantly higher likelihood of school absenteeism.

Significance: We found different patterns of violent victimization and perpetration among LGBTQ+ adolescents, and these patterns were functionally associated with longitudinal mental health risks and school absenteeism. Prevention efforts at the individual level must attend to multiple types of victimization and perpetration, and provide tailored support to protect the long-term well-being of LGBTQ+ students.

Authors

• Yinuo Xu, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Yutong Gao, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Dorothy L. Espelage, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill