Document text
Principal Investigator: William James Hall
Organization: UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $386,605
Funding agency: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
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.
Terms: <12-20 years old><Address><Adolescence><Age><Anxiety><Area><Awareness><Calendar><Chronology><Communities><Complex><Confusion><Confusional State><Coping Skills><Data><Data Analyses><Data Analysis><Depressed mood><Development><Developmental Process><Disparities><Disparity><Distress><Emotional><Ethnic Origin><Ethnicity><Event><Evidence based intervention><Evidence based practice guidelines><Face><Family><Feeling suicidal><Friends><Funding><Guidelines><Health Care Professional><Health Professional><Healthcare professional><Healthy People 2020><Heterogeneity><Homophobia><Homophobic><Hostility><Institute of Medicine><Institute of Medicine (U.S.)><Intervention><Intervention Strategies><Interview><Knowledge><LGB><LGBT Health><Label><Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual><Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual Transgender Health><Lesbian Gay Bisexual><Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Health><Life Cycle><Life Cycle Stages><Liquid substance><Literature><Major Depressive Disorder><Mental Confusion><Mental Depression><Mental Health><Mental Hygiene><Mental health promotion><Methods><Modeling><Modernization><NAS/IOM><NIH><National Institutes of Health><Outcome><Parents><Pathway interactions><Patient Self-Report><Pattern><Persons><Population><Prevention><Process><Psychological Health><Public Health><Race><Races><Reaction><Recommendation><Regression Analyses><Regression Analysis><Regression Diagnostics><Religion><Reporting><Research><Research Resources><Resources><Risk><Sampling><Schools><Self-Report><Sex Orientation><Sexual Orientation><Shame><Social Environment><Societies><Statistical Regression><Stigmatization><Stress><Stress and Coping><Suicidal thoughts><Suicide><Suicide attempt><Techniques><Technology><Testing><United States National Institutes of Health><Variant><Variation><Visual><Voice><Youth><Youth 10-21><adolescence (12-20)><ages><clinical depression><clinical practice><combat><coping><coping strategy><coping with stress><data interpretation><data visualization><depressed><depression><developmental><disparity in health><emotional experience><ethnic identity><evidence based guidelines><evidence based recommendations><experience><faces><facial><fatal attempt><fatal suicide><fluid><gender minority group><gender minority individual><gender minority people><gender minority population><health data><health disparity><innovate><innovation><innovative><intent to die><interest><interventional strategy><life course><life history><liquid><major depression><major depression disorder><mosaic><non fatal attempt><non-heterosexual><nonfatal attempt><nonheterosexual><parent><pathway><peer><prevent><preventing><queer><racial><racial background><racial origin><recruit><religious><sadness><satisfaction><self esteem><sex identity><sexual identity><sexual minority><sexual minority adolescent><sexual minority children><sexual minority group><sexual minority health><sexual minority individual><sexual minority people><sexual minority population><sexual minority youth><social climate><social context><social media><social stigma><social stress><socially stressed><socioenvironment><socioenvironmental><statistics><stigma><stress-related coping><success><suicidal><suicidal attempt><suicidal ideation><suicidal thinking><suicidality><suicide ideation><suicides><theories><thoughts about suicide><trend>