Family Studies and Human Development, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
School of Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA.
J Adolesc. 2023 Jun;95(4):700-715. doi: 10.1002/jad.12146. Epub 2023 Feb 3.
Plurisexual individuals represent 50% of sexual minority adolescent communities. However, most studies of sexual minority adolescents analyze this population as a homogeneous group rather than attending to plausible differences between plurisexual and monosexual sexual minority youth. This study examined whether plurisexual Latinx youth differed from monosexual youth on three facets of sexual orientation identity (SOI) development (exploration, resolution, and affirmation). Further, we examined whether plurisexual (vs. monosexual) identity moderated the relationship between SOI development and depressive symptoms and self-esteem.
The sample included 365 Latinx sexual minority youth (14-24 years) living in the United States or US Territory. The majority of participants identified as monosexual (84.1%); 15.9% were plurisexual. The sample was 75.6% male, 19.5% female, and 2.0% transgender. Participants were asked to complete an online, cross-sectional survey that asked questions pertaining to ethnicity and sexual orientation. This data was collected in the fall of 2014.
Latinx plurisexual youth had higher levels of SOI affirmation, exploration, and resolution than monosexual youth. SOI affirmation and exploration and were positively associated with self-esteem for all youth. SOI affirmation was significantly negatively associated with depressive symptoms for monosexual youth but not for plurisexual youth. SOI exploration and resolution were not significantly associated with depressive symptoms.
This study demonstrates that there are significant differences between plurisexual and monosexual Latinx adolescent populations in reference to identity affirmation, exploration, and resolution, and that these sexual orientations should be treated distinctly in future research. In addition, all three aspects of identity development were significantly related to higher self-esteem for all youth regardless of identity, providing evidence for the importance of developing these three factors.
多元性取向个体占性少数青少年群体的 50%。然而，大多数性少数青少年的研究分析将这一群体视为同质群体，而不是关注多元性取向和单性取向的性少数青年之间可能存在的差异。本研究考察了多元性取向拉丁裔青少年在性取向认同（SOI）发展的三个方面（探索、解决和确认）上是否与单性取向青年存在差异。此外，我们还考察了多元性取向（与单性取向相比）身份是否调节了 SOI 发展与抑郁症状和自尊之间的关系。
样本包括 365 名居住在美国或美国领土的拉丁裔性少数青少年（14-24 岁）。大多数参与者被认定为单性取向（84.1%）；15.9%是多元性取向。样本中男性占 75.6%，女性占 19.5%，跨性别者占 2.0%。参与者被要求完成一项在线的横断面调查，该调查询问了与种族和性取向相关的问题。这些数据是在 2014 年秋季收集的。
拉丁裔多元性取向青年的 SOI 确认、探索和解决水平高于单性取向青年。SOI 确认、探索和解决与所有青年的自尊呈正相关。SOI 确认与单性取向青年的抑郁症状呈显著负相关，但与多元性取向青年无关。SOI 探索和解决与抑郁症状无显著相关性。
本研究表明，在身份确认、探索和解决方面，多元性取向和单性取向的拉丁裔青少年群体存在显著差异，未来的研究应将这两种性取向区别对待。此外，无论身份如何，所有三个方面的身份发展都与所有青年的更高自尊显著相关，为发展这三个因素的重要性提供了证据。
