Sexual minority youth, social connection and resilience: From personal struggle to collective identity

Abstract

Sexual minority youth are at increased risk for negative health outcomes including substance abuse, depression, anxiety, and suicide. Researchers suggest that sexual orientation victimization is a predictor of such outcomes. Social connectedness—or the importance of belonging where youth perceive they are cared for and empowered within a given context—has been associated with positive youth outcomes. This qualitative study utilized life story methodology. Life stories are considered to be important expressions of one’s identity and are shaped by personal, social, and cultural contexts. Twenty-two interviews were conducted with 15 young people ranging in age from 14 to 22 years. Two focus groups with youth were also conducted. Youth were recruited from rural and urban communities in Massachusetts. This study contributes to the literature on resilience by including the voices of sexual minority youth and explores the meaning of social connection in their lives. Youth discuss the ways in which individual connection and group affiliation served to affirm one’s identity, and provided a forum for moving personal struggle to collective action. The findings suggest the need to reconceptualize consequences of disconnection (such as depression or suicide) from individual pathology and attend to these consequences as a response to discrimination and stigma. Implications for these findings and areas for future research are discussed.