Sexual minority young adults’ perspectives on how minority stress and other factors negatively affect self-esteem: a qualitative interview study

Figures & data

Table 1. Interview guide questions and prompts.

Question	Prompts
Please could you tell me about your self-esteem?	Level Impact on life Changes over time
What are the most important factors/experiences that you think have had a negative impact on your self-esteem?	Could you tell me more about how they have affected your self-esteem? Relationships Stressful life events Family
[if not mentioned already] Have you experienced stigma or discrimination from others related to your sexual orientation?	Could you tell me a bit more about this? From who? Direct/indirect Microaggressions
Have these experiences of stigma or discrimination affected your self-esteem or how you feel about yourself?	[If yes]: Could you tell me about how this affected your self-esteem? Thoughts/feelings Activities Relationships

Table 2. Participant characteristics and scores on clinical measures.

Participant Characteristics
Age (SD)	20.1 (2.3)
Gender identity	N (%)
Man (Cisgender)	7 (35)
Woman (Cisgender)	12 (60)
Non-binary	1 (5)
Sexual Orientation
Lesbian	6 (30)
Gay	3 (15)
Bisexual	7 (35)
Pansexual	2 (10)
Queer	1 (5)
Asexual/Bi-romantic	1 (5)
Ethnicity
White British	6 (30)
Black	3 (15)
Asian	4 (20)
Other White	3 (15)
Mixed Background	4 (20)
Measures	Mean (SD)	Range
RSES	26.1 (5.8)	18–33
FSCS
IS	21.1 (9.2)	1–34
HS	16.2 (7.2)	0–15
RS	5.3 (4.7)	4–29
GAD-7	6.9 (4.4)	0–14
PHQ-9	7.4 (5.2)	0–17

RSES: Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale; FSCS: Forms of Self-criticising/attacking and Reassuring Scale (IS: inadequate self; HS: hated self; RS: reassuring self); GAD-7: Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 Questionnaire; PHQ-9: Patient Health Quesitonnaire-9.