Being in a relationship may buffer lesbian and gay young people against the negative effects of bullying and victimization, research shows. Those in couples also showed lower levels of psychological distress.
The finding is particularly important because prior research has not found a protective effect like this for support from parents and friends.
“Having a partner then can amplify the good things in life and provide critical support during tough times.”
“Romantic relationships add luster to life,” says corresponding author Brian Mustanski, the director of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “Your romantic partner can be the first person you reach out to when you have good news to celebrate or for a shoulder to cry on when you have bad news. Having a partner then can amplify the good things in life and provide critical support during tough times.”
While the benefits of being in a romantic relationship to mental health is well documented in adults, limited research has occurred on the association between dating relationships and mental health in young people. Even fewer researchers have examined the potential stress-buffering effects of romantic involvement for sexual minority groups.
“There are lot of questions about if and how we should help LGBT teens form romantic relationships so that they can have the same experiences of dating and learning about relationships as their heterosexual peers,” says Sarah Whitton, first author and associate professor of psychology at the University of Cincinnati. “The findings suggest there might be great value in initiatives that could help LGBT youth meet other youth such as citywide ‘queer proms,’ and engage in healthy learning about dating and romance.”
Trans and genderqueer teens face 3X more abuse
Romantic involvement was associated with higher psychological distress for bisexual individuals, however, the study also shows.
When bisexuals were in relationships, they were 19 percent more distressed than when they were not in relationships. When lesbian and gay individuals were in relationships, they were 17 percent less distressed than when they were not in relationships.
“Bisexuals may face unique stressors in relationships,” Mustanski says.
In previous research, bisexual women reported their romantic male partners expected threesomes with another female and perceived of the woman’s bisexuality as a threat to their own masculinity. Bisexual men in relationships with women described difficulties discussing their bisexuality and experiencing stereotypes that they are really gay and not bisexual.
How marriage equality laws may save teens’ lives
Participants came from Project Q2—the longest running longitudinal study of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) youth ever conducted. Project Q2 is a racially diverse community sample of 248 sexual minority youth from the Chicago area between the ages of 16-20, who provided eight waves of data over a five-year period beginning in 2007. Most participants identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender.
The paper appears in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
Funding came from the National Institute of Child and Human Development, the National Institute on Drug Abuse,the National Institute of Mental Health, all of the National Institutes of Health, and other sources.
Source: Northwestern University
