The goal of this study is to investigate how sexual minority (SM) adolescents' behavioral health (BH) is shaped by their experience of multiple, intersecting and mutually constitutive identities and their interactions with larger, social-structural systems of privilege and disadvantage. At its core, this study is concerned with developing an intersectional understanding of the socio-ecological risk and protective environments1 in which SM adolescents live. This research is of urgent
This study explores the impact of interpersonal and social-structural determinants of sexual minority (SM) youth behavioral health (BH) with the goal of increasing understanding of the significant health disparities experienced by these youth and identifying the most effective sites and approaches for multi-level interventions that promote resilience and reduce disparities. This study will examine the different ways that micro-, meso-, and macro-level factors are related to SM youth mental health (MH) and substance use using quantitative methods designed to analyze contextual effects and test individual outcome pathways as well as qualitative methods that will illuminate the unique perspective of school professionals regarding the forces that shape SM BH. The proposed research will provide a more nuanced understanding of the landscape of SM disparities in BH outcomes through its use of both large N quantitative data to disaggregate outcomes and contextual predictors for different SM identity groups and in-depth qualitative data that will allow for triangulation of results.
