Contextualizing LGB youth’s support experiences: The conceptualization of LGB-specific social support

Abstract

Introduction

Social support is valuable for preventing and mitigating a range of harms among youth, including victimization and negative mental health outcomes. However, social support research has historically centered heterosexual individuals’ needs and experiences. This paper examines how social support is conceptualized by LGB youth. Methods: The present study utilizes in-depth interviews from 20 self-identified LGB individuals between the ages of 18 and 25. Results: Interviews suggest that LGB youth social support includes help with normalizing, processing, and navigating their identity. Conclusions: The data suggest that the support needs of LGB youth are distinct, and understandings of LGB social support need to be couched within heteronormativity, a wider, macro level social phenomenon. Implications for the scholars and practitioners are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• LGB youth
• social support
• heteronormativity
• inclusive curriculum

Conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Referenced past research on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth includes data from a wider group of sexual and gender minority youth identities (e.g., transgender, questioning, queer, same-sex behavior); yet, the term LGB is used throughout to represent a limitation of the data, which includes only data from LGB persons. Also of note is that although differences within/among the sexual minority youth community are documented elsewhere (e.g., Button & Worthen, 2014; Espelage et al., 2008), they are not detailed here because this study focuses on the experiences of the collective community; the nuances in the experiences between LGB youth are beyond the scope of this article.