Navigating negativity: a grounded theory and integrative mixed methods investigation of how sexual and gender minority youth cope with negative comments online

ABSTRACT

Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) often lack support to navigate their minority identities and elevated psychosocial risks. When their offline environment presents challenges to wellbeing, many SGMY turn to internet-enabled information and communication technologies (ICTs) to develop identities, cope with daily stressors, and access support. However, online environments also contain negativity, including comments which display anti-sexual and gender minority (SGM) biases. Such content differs from cyberbullying, which is typically intentional and perpetrated by offline peers. It is critical to understand how SGMY cope with negative comments online, as these interactions may threaten resilience. This grounded theory and integrative mixed methods study explored the online experiences of SGMY from the United States and Canada (n = 5,243), to identify the range and influence of negative comments. Participants were primarily adolescents (M = 18.22, SD = 3.61), pansexual, (30.1%, n = 1,576), and cis female, (41.1%, n = 2,592). Open, axial, and selective coding were employed to generate seven themes: appraising, avoiding, responding, adaptive coping, maladaptive coping, impacting wellbeing, and a non-issue; resulting in a model of how SGMY cope with negative comments. Findings highlight the complex ways that SGMY deal with online negativity. Considerations for research and practice are provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth
• grounded theory
• social media
• online negativity and microaggressions
• coping

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by Insight and Partnership Grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). SLC is the Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Youth. ADE holds a salary award from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN). We thank the youth participants for their contributions, Minnie Cui for her excellent work on the model figure, and Bonnie Lao and Jenny Hui for their assistance with this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [47520150780].

Notes on contributors

Shelley L. Craig

Shelley L. Craig, PhD, RSW is a Professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW) at the University of Toronto. and is the Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Youth (SGMY). She directs the International Partnership for Queer Youth Resilience (INQYR). Dr. Craig’s research is supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Andrew D. Eaton

Andrew D. Eaton, MSW, RSW, is a PhD Candidate at FIFSW. He holds a Student Leader Award from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN). Mr. Eaton’s research is supported by the OHTN and the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network (CTN).

Lauren B. McInroy

Lauren B. McInroy, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University.

Sandra A. D’Souza

Sandra A. D’Souza, MPH works for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Sreedevi Krishnan

Sreedevi Krishnan is a Master of Social Work (MSW) graduate from FIFSW.

Gordon A. Wells

Gordon A. Wells, MSW, RSW is Group Programming Coordinator at the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT).

Lloyd Twum-Siaw

Lloyd Twum-Siaw is a Master of Social Work (MSW) graduate from FIFSW.

Vivian W. Y. Leung

Vivian W. Y. Leung is a PhD Candidate at FIFSW.