The Role of Feminism and Gender in Endorsement of Hookup Culture among Emerging Adults.

Hookup culture has transformed the sexual behavior of emerging adults. Feminism, a movement that has advocated for liberating women from sexual repression, may be associated with hookup endorsement attitudes. This study explores the associations among multiple dimensions of feminism, gender, and hookup culture endorsement. Participants included 318 emerging adults (46% women; Mage = 22.2 years; 51% White, 27% Asian, 5% Hispanic/Latinx, 9% Black, 1% Middle Eastern, 1% American Indian, 6% Multiracial) from five Anglophone countries (62% U.S., 23% United Kingdom, 9% Canada, 5% Australia, 1% New Zealand), who completed the Feminist Beliefs and Behavior Scale and Endorsement of Hookup Culture Index via an anonymous, online survey. Participants were categorized according to their feminist identity label (feminist, non-feminist) and feminist belief system (hold feminist beliefs, hold non-feminist beliefs). A series of ANCOVAs was conducted, revealing that women who identified as feminist and/or held feminist beliefs reported significantly higher endorsement of hookup culture compared to non-feminist women with non-feminist beliefs. Neither dimension of feminism predicted hookup culture endorsement in men. When comparing feminist-identifying women and men, the gender disparity in hookup culture endorsement was eliminated. Together, these findings highlight how social movements, such as feminism, may be associated with young women's attitudes towards hookups, and may ultimately shape their sexual experiences.

Longitudinal Change in Appearance-Related Social Media Consciousness and Depressive Symptoms: A Within-Person Analysis during Early-to-Middle Adolescence.

Online appearance preoccupation may put adolescents at risk of developing mental health challenges, perhaps especially during early-to-middle adolescence. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model assessed within-person associations between appearance-related social media consciousness and depressive symptoms over three time-points with three months between waves. The sample (n = 1594) included U.S. adolescents aged 11-15 (Mage = 13; 47% girls, 46% boys, 7% another gender; 37% Latine, 33% White, 18% Black, 7% Asian). Within-person increases in appearance-related social media consciousness were associated with subsequent increases in depressive symptoms, but not vice versa. There was no evidence of gender differences and results were robust to controlling for both time on social media and offline self-objectification. Thus, online appearance concerns precede mental health challenges during early and middle adolescence.

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adolescents' disordered eating: Exploring general and SGM-specific factors.

OBJECTIVE: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adolescents disproportionately report disordered eating, yet have primarily been considered under a larger SGM umbrella. The current study 1) compared disordered eating between sexual minority (SM) and gender minority (GM) adolescents; 2) examined how general psychological factors (self-esteem, depression, and stress) and SGM-specific factors (e.g., feelings about SGM identity, access to SGM resources) were associated with disordered eating; and 3) examined whether associations between these factors differed for SM versus GM adolescents. METHOD: SGM adolescents in the U.S. (N = 8814; 35.0% GM; 43.7% cisgender girls; 66.9% White; Mage  = 15.6) reported their disordered eating, depressive symptoms, stress, self-esteem, and SGM-related experiences on an anonymous, cross-sectional online survey. RESULTS: GM adolescents exhibited a higher prevalence of clinical threshold disordered eating than SM adolescents. Self-esteem was associated with lower odds of caloric restriction, purging, and binge eating. Depression was associated with higher odds of caloric restriction, diet pill use, purging, laxatives, and binge eating. Stress was associated with higher odds of purging. Associations were stronger for GM adolescents' caloric restriction. Positive feelings about SGM identity were associated with lower odds of caloric restriction, purging, and binge eating, whereas greater stress of "coming out" was associated with higher odds of caloric restriction, purging, and binge eating. DISCUSSION: These results suggest that SGM adolescents' disordered eating is associated with both general psychological factors and unique SGM experiences. Results highlight the importance of considering how the unique experiences of SGM youth may leave them vulnerable to disordered eating behaviors. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth are disproportionately affected by disordered eating. The current study found that higher depression and stress, and lower self-esteem, were associated with SGM adolescents' disordered eating. Furthermore, unique SGM experiences, such as stress about coming out, were also associated with eating pathology. Results highlight the importance of considering SGM adolescents' perceptions of their identity and social support.

Longitudinal associations between appearance-related social media consciousness and adolescents' depressive symptoms.

INTRODUCTION: Frequent social media use among adolescents is associated with depressive symptoms, though prior work has overwhelmingly used cross-sectional designs and focused on "screen time." Subjective social media experiences, such as the concern with one's physical appearance on social media, may be more relevant to adolescents' depressive symptoms than mere frequency of use. Appearance-related social media consciousness (ASMC) is the preoccupation with one's physical attractiveness in social media photos and has been associated with depressive symptoms above and beyond frequency of social media use in prior cross-sectional work. METHODS: In this brief report, we assessed this association longitudinally over 1 year within a diverse sample of highschool adolescents in the Southeastern US (n = 163, M age = 16.19; 55.8% girls; 44.8% White, 23.9% Black, 26.4% Hispanic/Latinx; 49.7% received free or reduced-price lunch). RESULTS: Baseline ASMC was associated with higher depressive symptoms 1 year later, even when controlling for time spent on social media. Although girls reported higher levels of ASMC, associations were similar for adolescent boys and girls. No evidence was found that heightened depressive symptoms at baseline were associated with higher ASMC 1 year later. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the importance of physical appearance concerns on social media-above and beyond the frequency of use-in the development of depressive symptoms among adolescents. Implications for future research to examine the role of subjective social media experiences in adolescents' depressive symptoms are discussed.

#Grateful: Longitudinal Associations Between Adolescents' Social Media Use and Gratitude During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some ways of using social media-such as directly communicating with friends-may have helped adolescents thrive. We examined longitudinal associations between high school adolescents' social media use and gratitude across a 15-month period before and during the pandemic (n = 704, Mage  = 15.10; 52% girls). The trajectories of gratitude and the importance of social media for meaningful conversations with friends-but not frequency of social media use-were positively associated over time. At the within-person level, gratitude predicted increased importance of social media for meaningful conversations, but not vice-versa. Findings suggest that gratitude may be associated with and may motivate using social media to foster social connection, but may not increase overall social media use.

Popular peer norms and adolescent sexting behavior.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents misperceive and are heavily influenced by the behavior of their popular peers, yet research has not yet investigated this phenomenon for a relatively new and potentially risky behavior: adolescent sexting. The present study investigates rates of sexting among popular and non-popular adolescents and the association between adolescents' perceptions of popular peers' sexting behavior and their own sexting behavior. METHODS: A school-based sample of 626 adolescents from a rural high school in the Southeastern U.S. (Mage = 17.4, 53.5% female) completed surveys indicating whether they had sent a sext in the past year. Participants also reported on perceptions of popular peers' sexting behavior and completed sociometric nominations of peer status. RESULTS: While 87.4% of adolescents believed the typical popular boy or girl in their class had sent a sext in the past year, only 62.5% of popular adolescents had actually sent a sext. There was no significant difference between rates of sexting among popular and non-popular (54.8%) adolescents. After adjusting for gender and sexual activity status, adolescents who believed that the typical popular peer sent a sext were over ten times more likely to have also sexted in the past year. Among adolescents who believed their popular peers had not sexted, girls were more likely than boys to have sexted themselves; however, this gender difference disappeared among adolescents who believed their popular peers had sexted. CONCLUSIONS: These results underscore the importance of peer status and perceptions of peer norms in adolescents' sexting.

PACT: Developing and Evaluating a Digital Sexual Consent Program for Youth.

Understanding affirmative sexual consent is crucial for violence prevention and health promotion, yet few adolescents receive adequate consent education. The current study aimed to evaluate the acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a brief online program designed to teach adolescents information and skills about communicating and interpreting affirmative sexual consent (PACT: Promoting Affirmative Consent among Teens) in a randomized controlled trial with a national sample of 833 U.S. adolescents (ages 14-16; 42% White, 17% Asian, 17% Black, 13% Latinx; 53% girls, 31% boys, 12% non-binary; 45% heterosexual; 29% sexually active). PACT, grounded in health behavior change and persuasion theories, was developed using feedback from youth advisors and usability testers. Participants considered the program generally acceptable. Compared to youth who completed a control program, PACT was efficacious at shifting three measures of affirmative consent cognitions (i.e., knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy) from baseline to immediate posttest. Youth who completed PACT also demonstrated more accurate affirmative consent knowledge at 3 months post-baseline. PACT's effects on consent cognitions were generally similar among youth with various gender, racial/ethnic, and sexual identities. We discuss next steps for this program, including the possibilities of expanding to include additional concepts and tailoring to address the unique needs of specific youth.

The link between early adolescents' gender discrimination and gender attitudes about peers: Does gender similarity matter?

Gender is one of the most salient social identities, particularly during early adolescence. However, factors related to adolescents' gender attitudes remain underexamined. We examined links between adolescents' gender discrimination, felt-gender similarity, and intergroup gender attitudes. Participants were 270 adolescents in the United States (Mage = 12.95 years, SD = 1.33; 47.4% adolescent girls; 63.7% White, 12.2% Latinx, 10.7% Black, 4.1% Asian, 5.6% multiracial, and 3% indigenous). Path analyses showed that gender discrimination negatively predicted adolescents' attitudes towards own- and other-gender peers. Felt own-gender similarity positively predicted own-gender attitudes as expected, but other-gender similarity did not predict other-gender attitudes. Further, own- and other-gender similarity did not interact to predict adolescents' gender attitudes. However, adolescents' attitudes towards other-gender peers were more negatively impacted by gender discrimination for those who felt highly similar to own-gender peers than for those with average or low own-gender similarity. Findings inform potential strategies to improve adolescents' gender attitudes.

Parents' attitudes towards the content of sex education in the USA: Associations with religiosity and political orientation.

While most parents support their adolescents receiving school-based sex education, there is variability in which sex education topics receive the most support from parents. Conservative political orientation and greater religiosity have been independently associated with parents' lack of support for school-based sex education; however, no studies have examined the intersection of these two factors. The three goals of this study were to: 1) identify how specific sexual education topics cluster together to form content areas; 2) examine if religiosity and political orientation are uniquely associated with these content areas; and 3) examine if political orientation moderates the relationship between parents' religiosity and their perceived importance for the specific sex education content areas. Participants were a national sample of 881 US parents. The sex education topics clustered into three content areas: Factual Knowledge (e.g., STI transmission), Practical Skills (e.g., how to access condoms), and Pleasure and Identity (e.g., pleasurable aspects of sex). Politically conservative and more religious parents reported the lowest perceived importance for each content area. Importantly, these main effects were qualified by a significant interaction: parents who reported both political conservativism and high levels of religiosity reported the lowest perceived importance for these three content areas being taught.

Behavioral Measures to Assess Adolescent Sexual Communication with Partners: A Scoping Review and Call for Further Studies.

Sexual communication with partners is important for adolescents' sexual and socioemotional well-being. Behavioral assessments of partner sexual communication capture the complex and nuanced process of communication and are commonly used with adults, yet the existing literature among adolescents overwhelmingly relies on self-report measures. In the current paper, we reviewed the literature on adolescent partner sexual communication, identifying 14 studies including 2,043 participants (M age = 16) that used behavioral assessments (i.e., dyadic observations, role-plays with confederates, role-plays with vignettes). We also identify key gaps in the current literature: First, only one study recruited couples; studies that assessed dyadic interactions largely relied on confederates. Second, assessments often assumed that participants engaged in heterosexual sex, and no studies specifically recruited LGBTQ+ adolescents. Third, behavioral tasks often involved assumptions of participants' sexual goals (e.g., desire to refuse sex) and focused almost exclusively on sexual refusal and condom negotiation. Additionally, coding schemes lacked standardization and micro-analytic strategies (e.g., coding change over time). Finally, observational methods have been almost exclusively used to assess intervention efficacy, rather than to understand associations between behaviorally-assessed communication skills and sexual outcomes or self-reported communication in basic research. We discuss recommendations for future research, including regular use of behavioral observation methods with diverse samples, to triangulate across multiple methodologies and identify correspondence between behavioral and self-report measures.

Testing the minority stress model across gender identity, race, and ethnicity among U.S. gender minority adolescents.

Gender minority (GM) youth are at heightened risk for psychopathology, purportedly due to their experiences of GM stressors. However, few studies have examined how GM stressors are associated with depression and anxiety among GM youth. Furthermore, no prior studies have investigated how experiences of GM stressors differ across gender identity and race/ethnicity within a diverse sample of GM youth. A nationwide online cross-sectional survey of 1,943 fourteen- to 18-year-old GM adolescents (66.91% White, 11.73% multiracial, 8.49% Latinx, 7.10% Black, 3.09% Asian, 1.49% American Indian/Alaskan Native) in the United States assessed GM stressors (prejudice events, expectations of rejection, internalized transnegativity, and concealment) and mental health. Structural equation modeling was used to examine how GM stressors and depressive and anxiety symptoms differ across gender identity and race/ethnicity. Higher levels of each GM stressor were related to higher depressive symptoms. Prejudice events, expectations of rejection, and concealment were related to higher anxiety symptoms. Transmasculine and transfeminine youth reported higher levels of GM prejudice events and expectations of rejection, and higher mental health symptoms, than nonbinary youth. Findings were relatively consistent across racial/ethnic identities, with the exception that Black GM adolescents reported fewer GM prejudice events and expectations of rejection and indirectly exhibited lower mental health symptoms as compared to White GM youth. Researchers and clinicians should be attuned to how intersectional identities are related to stress and mental health among diverse GM youth. Recommendations for individual and structural-level interventions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Perfect Storm: A Developmental-Sociocultural Framework for the Role of Social Media in Adolescent Girls' Body Image Concerns and Mental Health.

In this theoretical review paper, we provide a developmental-sociocultural framework for the role of social media (SM) in adolescent girls' body image concerns, and in turn, depressive symptoms and disordered eating. We propose that the features of SM (e.g., idealized images of peers, quantifiable feedback) intersect with adolescent developmental factors (e.g., salience of peer relationships) and sociocultural gender socialization processes (e.g., societal over-emphasis on girls' and women's physical appearance) to create the "perfect storm" for exacerbating girls' body image concerns. We argue that, ultimately, body image concerns may be a key mechanism underlying associations between adolescent girls' SM use and mental health. In the context of proposing this framework, we provide empirical evidence for how SM may increase adolescent girls' body image concerns through heightening their focus on (1) other people's physical appearance (e.g., through exposure to idealized images of peers, celebrities, and SM influencers; quantifiable indicators of approval); and (2) their own appearance (e.g., through appearance-related SM consciousness; exposure to idealized self-images; encouraging over-valuing of appearance; and peer approval of photos/videos). Our framework highlights new avenues for future research on adolescent girls' SM use and mental health, which recognize the central role of body image.

Sexual Communication between Adolescent Partners: A Scoping Review and Directions for Future Research.

Sexual communication between adolescent partners is an important component of sexual health and wellbeing. Over 40 years of research on adolescent sexual communication has yielded rich information, yet there remain gaps in our understanding of the communication process. The purpose of this scoping review was to synthesize the body of research on adolescent sexual communication to identify how communication has been conceptualized, how researchers have measured communication, and what theoretical frameworks have been applied across the literature. We identified 198 assessments of sexual communication across 119 quantitative studies. This work included 127,489 adolescents (Mage = 15.97) from 15 countries (81.5% U.S.-based). Most studies relied on self-reports (93.4%) and surveyed only one member of a couple (97.5%). The definition of sexual communication was highly varied across the literature: in half of assessments (52.0%) sexual communication was operationalized as a behavior-the verbal or nonverbal exchange of messages about sex-whereas the remaining half of assessments captured social-cognitive aspects of communication (e.g., communication self-efficacy, fear/anxiety). There was also a tendency for investigators to create their own idiosyncratic instruments: half of studies (48.9%) used instruments created by the research team with limited or no discussion of reliability/validity. Regarding the topic of communication, a third of assessments (33.8%) focused exclusively on condom communication and another quarter (24.0%) focused on other safer-sex issues (e.g., STDs, abstinence). Notably absent were studies focused on communication surrounding consent or sexual pleasure. Also absent was a guiding conceptual model or theory that could unify this body of work. Overall, results highlight gaps and inconsistencies in how partner sexual communication has been conceptualized, measured, and theorized about in previous work. We provide several recommendations for future theory-building efforts as well as rigorous, multimethod empirical investigations of adolescent sexual communication that would further our understanding of this important aspect of adolescent sexual wellbeing.

Black adolescents' appearance concerns, depressive symptoms, and self-objectification: Exploring the roles of gender and ethnic-racial identity commitment.

There is a dearth of research examining Black adolescents' body image, with even less work examining gender differences or the influence of ethnic-racial identity (ERI) commitment. It is critical to understand how culturally relevant aspects of appearance-beyond commonly measured ideals such as thinness and muscularity-are particularly relevant to Black adolescents. The present study of Black youth (n = 252; 55% girls, 45% boys, ages 13-18, Mage = 15.5) explored the roles of gender and ERI commitment in the associations between skin tone, hair, and facial satisfaction and appearance esteem, depressive symptomatology, and self-objectification. With a few exceptions, satisfaction with skin tone, hair, and face were significantly associated with higher appearance esteem and lower self-objectification and depressive symptoms, even when controlling for weight and muscle tone satisfaction. Findings were similar across genders, with some associations stronger among Black girls relative to boys. Among youth with higher ERI commitment, associations were stronger between skin tone, hair, and facial satisfaction and some indicators of wellbeing. Findings elucidate the role of culturally relevant appearance concerns of Black adolescents and the potential benefits of ERI commitment. This work can inform culturally sensitive research practices and therapeutic interventions related to Black youth's body image experiences.

Psychometric properties and factor structure of the appearance-related social media consciousness scale among emerging adults.

Appearance-related social media consciousness (ASMC) is the persistent awareness of one's attractiveness on social media. The ASMC Scale, recently developed for use with adolescents (Choukas-Bradley et al., 2020), provides a promising tool for systematically examining ASMC and associations with mental health. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the ASMC Scale among emerging adult men and women. Participants for Study 1 were 428 emerging adults (M age = 21.9) from five Anglophone, industrialized countries (U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand). Results from Study 1 provide evidence that the 13-item ASMC Scale has a unidimensional structure, strong internal consistency, measurement invariance across gender, and convergent validity (i.e., associations with related offline appearance concerns and cognitions) and incremental validity (i.e., associations with depressive symptoms and disordered eating, above and beyond time spent on social media). Participants from Study 2 were 296 U.S. college students (M age = 18.6). Results from Study 2 confirmed the factor structure and further demonstrated the convergent and incremental validity (above and beyond both time spent on social media and offline appearance concerns) of the ASMC Scale. Findings suggest that the ASMC Scale can be used among emerging adults, aiding future research investigating social media experiences and mental health.

Incorporating social media and muscular ideal internalization into the tripartite influence model of body image: Towards a modern understanding of adolescent girls' body dissatisfaction.

The tripartite influence model stipulates that appearance pressures from three sources (family, peers, traditional media) lead adolescent girls to internalize a thin appearance ideal and engage in social appearance comparisons, resulting in body dissatisfaction (Thompson et al., 1999). Social media is a modern source of appearance pressure and, increasingly, adolescent girls desire an appearance that is both thin and muscular. The current study of U.S. adolescent girls (n = 543, Mage = 15.58, 49.17% Latina, 28.18% White, 8.66% Black, 7.55% Asian, 6.45% multiracial/another race/ethnicity) incorporates social media appearance pressures and muscular ideal internalization into the tripartite influence model using structural equation modeling. Findings provided support for this adapted model: family, peers, traditional media, and social media contributed to body dissatisfaction. All appearance pressure sources were associated with appearance esteem via thin ideal internalization. Peer and social media pressures were both related to greater muscular ideal internalization, which was not significantly associated with appearance esteem. Social media was the only source of pressure associated with appearance esteem through both thin ideal internalization and body comparison. Findings highlight adolescent girls' pressure to look both thin and muscular, as well as the role of social media as a prominent source of appearance socialization.

Parent-child communication and adolescent sexual decision making: An application of family communication patterns theory.

Family communication patterns theory proposes two dimensions of family communication-conversation orientation and conformity orientation-that can impact adolescent decision making. The purpose of this study is to examine how family communication patterns, above and beyond the frequency of parent-child sexual communication, are associated with adolescents' (a) sexual self-efficacy, (b) intentions to communicate about sex with partners, and (c) intentions to use condoms. Participants were 452 U.S. adolescents (Mage = 15.06; 59% girls; 35% White, 33% Latinx, 25% Black). Controlling for the frequency of parent-child sexual communication and gender, we found the interaction between conversation and conformity orientation was associated with adolescent sexual self-efficacy and intentions to communicate about sex with partners. When families were high on conversation and low on conformity, adolescents had statistically significantly higher sexual self-efficacy than any other family communication patterns. When families were low on conversation and low on conformity, adolescents had statistically significantly lower intentions to communicate with future sex partners than any other family communication pattern. Findings highlight the importance of understanding general communication processes beyond the frequency of parent-child sexual communication. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Picture Perfect During a Pandemic? Body Image Concerns and Depressive Symptoms in U.S. Adolescent Girls During the COVID-19 Lockdown.

The stay-at-home orders of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted U.S. adolescents' lives in numerous ways during the spring of 2020, including substantial changes to in-person routines and increased reliance on digital media. For adolescent girls, stay-at-home practices may have implications for body image concerns. In this research brief, we examine adolescent girls' pandemic-related body image concerns and longitudinal associations with depressive symptoms. The sample included 93 U.S. adolescent girls (M age = 15.01; 68.8% White), with approximately 2/3 at temperamental risk for depression. Participants self-reported their depressive symptoms and pandemic-related body image concerns via online surveys at three assessments: Time 1 occurred in April/May 2020, approximately one month into stay-at-home orders, followed by two-week and seven-month follow-up assessments. Two pandemic-related body image concerns were assessed: (1) concerns about disrupted appearance-management routines and (2) evaluating one's appearance on video-chat. Both forms of pandemic-related body image concerns predicted depressive symptoms two weeks later, and concerns about disrupted routines also predicted depressive symptoms seven months later. In an era of social distancing, frequent technology-based interactions, and disrupted routines, future work should continue to investigate adolescents' body image concerns and the implications for longer-term mental health outcomes.

Support over Social Media among Socially Isolated Sexual and Gender Minority Youth in Rural U.S. during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Opportunities for Intervention Research.

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) rural adolescents are at risk for higher levels of social isolation, a well-known risk factor for depression and other negative health outcomes. We qualitatively examined how rural SGM youth seek emotional and informational support, which are protective factors for social isolation on social media (SM) regarding their SGM identity, and determined which SM platforms and tools are most effective in providing support. We conducted semistructured online interviews with rural SGM teens who screened positive for social isolation in spring 2020 and used a thematic analysis approach to analyze the data. Sixteen youths participated in interviews. Themes included seeking emotional support through SM groups and communities, seeking emotional support in designated online SGM spaces, using SM feeds for informational support, and disclosing SGM identity differentially across platforms. SM-based interventions could be leveraged to provide emotional and informational support for rural SGM youth across specific SM platforms and consider whether they are providing emotional or information support. Interventions focused on informational support may best be used on content-based platforms. Those designed to combat social isolation and connect marginalized SGM youths to similar others might benefit from community and forum-based platforms.

Examining Social Media Experiences and Attitudes Toward Technology-Based Interventions for Reducing Social Isolation Among LGBTQ Youth Living in Rural United States: An Online Qualitative Study.

Purpose: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth living in rural areas who feel isolated are at high risk of depression and suicidality. Given the lack of support in their offline communities, many rural-living LGBTQ youth turn to social media for social support. In this qualitative study, we examined rural LGBTQ youth's social media experiences and attitudes toward technology-based interventions for reducing perceived isolation. Method: In Spring 2020, we conducted online interviews with LGBTQ youth aged 14-19, living in rural areas of the United States, who screened positive for perceived social isolation (n = 20; 11 cisgender sexual minority, 9 transgender). Interviews examined (1) supportive social media experiences, (2) personal strategies to improve social media experiences, and (3) perspective on potential digital intervention delivery modalities. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: Related to supportive content and interactions, themes included (1) positive representation of and connecting with LGBTQ groups on social media are important; (2) content from people with shared experience feels supportive, and (3) lack of feedback to one's experiences is isolating. Regarding personal strategies to improve social media experiences, themes were (1) selecting platforms to connect with different audiences helps make for a more enjoyable social media experience, and (2) several social media platform features can help make for a safer social media experience. Youth discussed advantages and disadvantages of intervention delivery via a mobile app, social media pages or groups, conversational agents (chatbots), and a dedicated website. Conclusion: Viewing positive representation of and connecting with LGBTQ groups, content from people shared experiences, and utilizing a wide array of platform features to increase the likelihood of positive connections are key to a positive social media experience among this group. Combining delivery modalities is key to engaging rural-living LGBTQ youth in digitally delivered support interventions to reduce perceived isolation. Our results inform future intervention research and conversations about social determinants of health between providers and rural LGBTQ patients.