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Is harassment based on personal characteristics such as race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or disability more detrimental than general harassment? In 2 large population-based studies of adolescents, more than one third of those harassed reported bias-based school harassment. Both studies show that bias-based harassment is more strongly associated with compromised health than general harassment. Research on harassment among youths rarely examines the underlying cause. Attention to bias or prejudice in harassment and bullying should be incorporated into programs and policies for young people.

In this study predictors of serious suicide attempts among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth were examined. Three groups were compared: youth who reported no attempts, youth who reported attempts unrelated to their sexual orientation, and youth whose attempts were considered related to their sexual orientation. About one third of respondents reported at least one suicide attempt; however, only half of the attempts were judged serious based on potential lethality. About half of all attempts were related to youths' sexual orientation. Factors that differentiated youth reporting suicide attempts and those not reporting attempts were greater childhood parental psychological abuse and more childhood gender‐atypical behavior. Gay‐related suicide attempts were associated with identifiability as LGB, especially by parents. Early openness about sexual orientation, being considered gender atypical in childhood by parents, and parental efforts to discourage gender atypical behavior were associated with gay‐related suicide attempts, especially for males. Assessment of past parental psychological abuse, parental reactions to childhood gender atypical behavior, youths' openness about sexual orientation with family members, and lifetime gay‐related verbal abuse can assist in the prediction of suicide attempts in this population.

Many lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents experience frequent verbal and physical victimization due to their sexual orientation, which has been associated with mental health and behavioral problems. In order to explain the mechanisms by which victimization affects mental health, Meyer (2003b) theorized that sexual orientation victimization increased more proximal indicators of stress related to sexual orientation, or minority stress, such as fears of being discovered to be LGB and internalized homophobia. These were hypothesized to increase mental health and behavioral problems with further consideration being given to possible mediators or moderators of this association. Using a sample of 528 LGB youth, I tested Meyer’s theoretical model, considering personal resources (self-esteem and mastery), social support, LGB-specific social support, and minority identity characteristics as possible mediators and moderators between minority stress and mental health. Results indicated that sexual orientation victimization predicted mental health and behavioral problems, although this finding disappeared after controlling for other stressful life events. Additionally, victimization predicted minority stress which, in turn, predicted mental health problems. Evidence was found for partial mediation between minority stress and victimization by personal resources and moderation by social support. Furthermore, with the exception of minority identity characteristics, all moderator analyses indicated that externalizing problem behaviors should be treated separately from internalizing behaviors and other mental health symptoms when considering the effect of minority stress on mental health. Youth with worse contexts (i.e., less social support, fewer personal resources) were less likely than youth with more supportive contexts to exhibit externalizing behaviors in response to minority stress but were equally likely to exhibit internalizing behaviors and report increased stress. For minority identity characteristics, no effects were found. Following a summary of the implications of these results, I describe limitations to the current research program and suggest ways for researchers to further examine this theoretical model.