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School Belonging, Self-Esteem, and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents: An Examination of Sex, Sexual Attraction Status, and Urbanicity

NCJ Number
205672
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2004 Pages: 235-245
Author(s)
Renee Vickerman Galliher; Sharon Scales Rostosky; Hannah K. Hughes
Date Published
June 2004
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Using data from Wave II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study used multivariate analyses to examine three indicators of psychosocial adjustment (school belonging, self-esteem, depressive symptoms) and their associations with sexual-attraction status, sex, and urbanicity.
Abstract
Participants were 7,613 adolescents who participated in Wave II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which had the broad goal of examining contextual factors associated with health and health-related behaviors in a nationally representative sample of American adolescents in grades 7 through 12. Participants were interviewed in their homes between April and August 1996. Topics covered included health status, health-related behaviors, psychological health, peer and family relationships, education, risk behaviors, etc. School belonging, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms were measured by relevant questions. Sexual-attraction status was determined by using three self-report items regarding sexual-orientation. Urbanicity was determined through the interviewer's observation of the home's community environment. Generally, adolescents who reported being attracted to persons of the same sex ("sexual minority") reported lower psychological adjustment than adolescents who were attracted only to the opposite sex ("sexual majority"); females attracted to the same sex were particularly at risk. Urbanicity may play a larger role in understanding depressive symptoms among sexual minority youth than among sexual majority youth. Differential patterns of risk for sexual minority youth emerged across rural, urban, and suburban communities. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for addressing the psychosocial needs of sexual minority adolescents. 3 tables, 3 figures, and 70 references