Annotated Bibliography on Minority Stress and Mental Health among LGB Youth

Assignment
This annotated bibliography will help you start the process of writing your paper. You will cite each of the articles you will be using in the American Sociological Association (ASA) format. Each citation will then have at least two paragraphs discussing what is said in the paper and how it is relevant to your topic. These paragraphs will not need to tie to each other but if any of your papers have a connection that you can see you may include it in those write ups. Unlike you reflections, this paper should be written using academic English. I have provided an example of what I am looking for below. Your entries do not need to be as long as mine, however.

Grading Rubric
Subject    Point Value
Grammar and Clarity    3 Points
Number of Citations    5 Points
Connection to Topic    5 Points
Paper Writeups     12 Points

Baams, Laura, Arnold H. Grossman, and Stephen T. Russell. 2015. “Minority Stress and Mechanisms of Risk for Depression and Suicidal Ideation among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth.” Developmental Psychology 51(5):688–96. doi: 10.1037/a0038994.This study, while deeply rooted in psychology, has wide implications on my study. It looks at the way that the social stressors which come from being a minority sexuality can translate into negative mental health outcome and risk for suicide. I am looking at the relationship between self-disclosure of minority sexuality identities and mental health and wellbeing. By considering the psychological perspectives I can validate my assumption that LGB people experience stress and degraded mental wellbeing. Their work focuses on minority stress and how it can impact a person’s mental wellbeing during the coming out process.

The operationalize coming out stress and sexual orientation victimization as “aspects of minority stress that may be particularly prevalent among adolescents and young adults.”(2015:689) In looking at minority stress, the researchers also employ interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide (IPT). This proposes that suicidal ideation originates from “perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belonging”. (2015:689) They note that studies have described burdensomeness in patients feeling a sense of being a burden on their friends and family, particularly during th coming out process. Thwarted belonging by contrast relates to a person feeling socially isolated from the friends and family because of their sexual minority identity.

They are left feeling as outsiders and without a community.  Isolation seems to them to be one of the biggest risk factors in suicidal ideation.This study had a sample size of 1061 LGBTQ youth. They were recruited through community-based organizations and college groups. Trans and questioning students were not included in their analysis bring their final analysis sample to 876, all of whom were between the ages of 15-21. Most participants were in school; 47% had were in or had left high school. Bisexual women were the highest represented group, followed closely by gay men. The smallest group in the sample was bisexual men.In their study they found that coming out stress was a major factor in only girls and primarily contributed to perceived burdensomeness. Both boys and girls experienced a significant connection to perceived burdensomeness from their sexual orientation victimization.

Thwarted belongingness, which present was not strongly connected to either coming out or victimization. Perceived burdensomeness showed a significant connection to both depression and suicidal ideation in both boys and girls. They therefore found a pathway from coming out stress to depression and suicide in girls and one from victimization to depression and suicide in both boys and girls. They posit that “for boys, experiences of victimization matter to the extent that they simply overpower the role of coming-out stress”. (2015:693) They also suggest that perhaps girls are more in tune with the reactions that others have to their coming out, and that may be why it affects them more.