Symposia
Suicide and Self-Injury
Jennifer A. Poon, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island
Andrew Barnett, Ph.D.
T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island
Jessica R. Peters, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island
Micaela M. Maron, B.S.
Clinical Research Assistant
Bradley Hospital/Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island
Jennifer Wolff, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Warren Alpert School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Brown University
Providence, RI
While COVID-19 has had a profound psychological impact on virtually all youth, the pandemic may have had a particularly negative effect on those who are sexual and gender minorities (SGM) (DeMulder et al., 2020). Consistent with the minority stress theory (Meyer, 2003), a wealth of prior research has demonstrated that SGM youth were already at greater risk for mental health concerns pre-COVID. SGM-affirming social supports at school and from peers can play a vital protective role for these young people, particularly for those with rejecting families. School closures and stay-at-home orders may therefore have contributed to greater stress and heightened mental health symptoms among this high-risk population. The current study aims to explore differences in symptoms of psychopathology, suicidality, and COVID-related stressors and emotions between SGM and non-SGM high-risk youth during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participants were 306 psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents (ages 11-18; M = 15.11, SD = 1.83; 34% Hispanic) admitted from April 2020-April 2021. Of the 306 participants, 52% identified as a sexual or gender minority. At the time of admission, participants completed self-report questionnaires about COVID-19-related stress, emotions, and suicidal ideation (SI), in addition to measures of psychopathology symptoms, family functioning, and recent SI thoughts and behaviors.
Significant differences across most measures emerged between SGM and non-SGM youth. With respect to COVID-specific stressors, SGM teens reported significantly greater overall COVID-related stress. More specifically, SGM adolescents reported greater stress related to access to basic needs, financial issues, and worries about loved ones getting COVID compared to cisgender, heterosexual counterparts. SGM youth also endorsed higher levels of mental health concerns, including all COVID-related SI items (e.g., using COVID-19 as a means for SI) and most COVID-related negative affect items, including feelings of guilt, uncertainty, and suicidality. We plan to use these baseline data to predict readmissions from April 2021-Oct 2022.
As hypothesized, COVID-19 appears to have had a disproportionately negative impact on hospitalized SGM youth across multiple domains of functioning when compared to other psychiatrically-hospitalized adolescents. Further analyses will help clarify the longer-term psychological impact of the increased stress. Limitations and clinical implications for clinical SGM populations will be discussed.