The developmental collision hypothesis: An empirical test among three generations of sexual minority youth

• In Event: Sexual minority identity development and mental health: New methodological, contextual, and population insights

Abstract

Background: Despite rapid expansion of visibility of sexual diversity in the past several decades, sexual minority youth continue to report disproportionately higher mental health risk than their heterosexual peers. Why are mental health disparities persisting despite improved understandings of sexual diversity? According to the developmental collision hypothesis (Russell & Fish, 2019), contemporary sexual minority youth often acknowledge and disclose minoritized identities earlier in the life course, during adolescence. As such, for contemporary youth, sexual identity development may increasingly coincide with developmental stages characterized by heightened social regulation of gender and sexuality, and increased potential for minority stressors such as LGBT-related victimization that are associated with mental health risk. The goal of the current study was to empirically test the developmental collision hypothesis by examining whether and how sexual identity development timing, LGBT-related victimization experiences, and depressive symptoms are related, and whether these relations vary across distinct generations of sexual minority adolescents ages 15-19.

Sample & Methods: To address these goals, we combined secondary data from three large and diverse datasets of sexual minority adolescents ages 15-19 (n = 1,310; Mage = 17.34, SD = 1.30) collected during three distinct sociohistorical eras of sexual diversity (the 1990s cohort, the 2000s cohort, and the 2010s cohort). Sexual identity development timing was assessed with four items that measured the age at which sexual minority youth reported milestones including first awareness of same-sex attraction, self-identification with a sexual minority identity, same-sex sexual behavior, and disclosure of a sexual minority identity to others. LGBT-related victimization was measured as the mean of 5 items capturing the frequency of lifetime victimization because the participant was LGBT or someone thought they were. Finally, depressive symptoms were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory for Youth (Beck, 1996) and the Trauma Symptom Checklist (Derogatis, 1993).
A series of hierarchical multivariable regression models were used to first estimate associations between milestones and depressive symptoms, and second, examine interactions among milestones, LGBT-related victimization, and cohort in their associations with depressive symptoms. Additional sensitivity analyses used path analyses to examine the indirect effects of LGBT-related victimization in the associations between milestone timing and depressive symptoms, as well as variability by cohort.

Results & Discussion: More recent cohorts reported younger ages of milestones than less recent cohorts, yet cohorts did not differ in their experiences with LGBT-related victimization (Table 1). Youth from the 2000s cohort reported fewer depressive symptoms than those from the 1990s and 2010s cohort, who did not differ from one another. Multivariable regression models showed that LGBT-related victimization did not moderate the association between milestone timing with depressive symptoms. Rather, path analysis models (Figure 1) revealed an indirect effect of LGBT-related victimization, such that earlier milestones predicted higher LGBT-related victimization, which in turn predicted higher depressive symptomology. Results garner initial empirical support for the developmental collision hypothesis and indicate the need to understand the role of protective factors such as social support and community connectedness in buffering the negative outcomes of developmental collision.
 

Authors

• Meg Bishop, University of Maryland - College Park
  Presenting Author

• Jessica Fish, University of Maryland - College Park

• Stephen T Russell, University of Texas at Austin