Intersections of Gender and Sexual Minority Status: Co-occurring Cyberbullying and Physical Bullying Victimization Among Adolescents

• In Event: Roundtable: Gender and Crime

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that both body mass index (BMI) and sexual minority status predispose adolescents to bullying and cyberbullying victimization. This study analyzes the additional risk generated by the intersections of gender and sexual minority status on bullying-related victimization outcomes controlling for other significant predictors of victimization (including BMI). Secondary data from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS) state files were examined in this study. A 4-category variable was created to take into account presence and type of bullying (physical, cyberbullying, or both). The present study uses multinomial logistic regression to examine whether and to what extent BMI played a role in bullying victimization outcomes for adolescents classified as one of four gender-sexual minority groups: Male non-sexual minority, male sexual minority, female non-sexual minority, and female sexual minority adolescents. Preliminary results indicate that female adolescents and sexual minority adolescents faced higher risks for physical bullying victimization, for cyberbullying victimization, and for co-occurring victimization. Overall, the study results show that gender and sexual minority status significantly moderate several of the relationships between individual-level predictors of bullying victimization.

Authors

• William Ash-Houchen, Texas Woman's University

• Celia Lo, Texas Woman's University