Unhealthy weight control behaviors among youth: Sex of sexual partner is linked to important differences.

Unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs) have been decreasing for most youth over time, yet little is known whether these behaviors have changed for sexual minority (e.g., non-heterosexual) youth. This is important because many studies have found that sexual minorities report some of the highest rates of UWCBs. To determine whether or not these behaviors have changed over time, given the extreme changes in social contexts over the past two decades, we utilised three waves of the Minnesota Student Survey (N = 55,597, Mage = 17). In doing so, we report trends, disparities, and changes in disparities of UWCBs. Overall, the prevalence of UWCBs has declined from 1999 to 2010 for all youth, but there are alarming disparities by sex of sexual partner. We found that both- and same-sex partnered male youth were more likely to fast, use diet pills, and vomit on purpose to lose weight compared to their opposite-sex partnered counterparts in all three survey years; specifically, both-sex partnered boys were up to 5.5× as likely to vomit on purpose compared to their opposite-sex partnered counterparts. Likewise, both-sex partnered girls were more likely to use diet pills and vomit on purpose to lose weight compared to opposite-sex partnered girls in all three survey years. Additionally, the disparity in fasting to lose weight widened for the same-sex partnered females compared to the opposite-sex partnered females from 1998 to 2004. This has implications for UWCB interventions and preventions targeted specifically towards sexual minorities.

Worsening Perceptions of Family Connectedness and Parent Support for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adolescents.

OBJECTIVES: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents often report compromised relations with their families. Given the recent changes in societal attitudes toward LGB individuals, in respect to rights for marriage and other legal statuses, we explore whether or not there has been a change in how LGB and heterosexual adolescents perceive their family relations over time. METHODS: Using the British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey from British Columbia, Canada (N = 99,373; M age = 14.8), we investigated the trends and disparities in family connectedness and mother/father support in four data sets from 1998 to 2013. RESULTS: We found that while levels of perceived family connectedness and parent support have increased for heterosexual adolescents since 1998, the same increases were not found for LGB adolescents. Among LGB participants, levels of perceived connectedness/support generally decreased in each survey waves, especially among females. Alarmingly, significant disparities in these perceptions remained for LGB youth over time. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings have implications for supportive interventions focused on LGB adolescents and their families and in particular, the role of father support.

School-Based Strategies to Reduce Suicidal Ideation, Suicide Attempts, and Discrimination among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Adolescents in Western Canada.

This study explored the relationships between the existence of and length of time since implementation of school-based Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) and explicit anti-homophobic bullying policies in secondary schools across British Columbia, Canada, with experiences of anti-gay discrimination, suicidal ideation and attempts among lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB), mostly heterosexual, and exclusively heterosexual students. Analyses of the province-wide random cluster-stratified 2008 B.C. Adolescent Health Survey (n =21,70 8) compared students in schools with GSAs or policies implemented at least 3 years, and less than 3 years, with those in schools without GSAs or anti-homophobia policies, using multinomial logistic regression, separately by gender. LGB students had lower odds of past year discrimination, suicidal thoughts and attempts, mostly when policies and GSAs had been in place for 3+ years; policies had a less consistent effect than GSAs. Heterosexual boys, but not girls, also had lower odds of suicidal ideation and attempts in schools with longer-established anti-homophobic bullying policies and GSAs. Given consistently higher documented risk for suicidal ideation and attempts among LGB and mostly heterosexual adolescents, prevention efforts should be a priority, and school-level interventions, such as GSAs, may be an effective approach to reducing this risk, while also offering prevention benefits for heterosexual boys.