Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-Related Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9–12 — United States and Selected Sites, 2015

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Abstract

Sexual identity and sex of sexual contacts can both be used to identify sexual minority youth. Significant health disparities exist between sexual minority and nonsexual minority youth. However, not enough is known about health-related behaviors that contribute to negative health outcomes among sexual minority youth and how the prevalence of these health-related behaviors compare with the prevalence of health-related behaviors among nonsexual minorities.

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Reliability and validity of self-reported height and weight among high school students.

Michael T. McManus, Deborah A. Galuska, Richard Lowry … (2003)

To assess the reliability and validity of self-reported height and weight, and variables calculated from these values, in a diverse sample of adolescents. A convenience sample of students (n = 4619) in grades 9 through 12 reported their height and weight on two questionnaires administered approximately 2 weeks apart. Using a standard protocol, a subsample of these students (n = 2032) also were weighed and had their height measured following completion of the first questionnaire. Self-reported heights at Time 1 and Time 2 were highly correlated, and the mean difference between height at Time 1 and Time 2 was small. Results were similar for self-reported weight at Time 1 and Time 2 and body mass index (BMI) calculated from these values. Although self-reported values of height, weight, and BMI were highly correlated with their measured values, on average, students overreported their height by 2.7 inches and underreported their weight by 3.5 pounds. Resulting BMI values were an average of 2.6 kg/m(2) lower when based on self-reported vs. measured values. The percentages of students classified as "overweight" or "at risk for overweight" were therefore lower when based on self-reported rather than on measured values. White students were more likely than those in other race/ethnic groups to overreport their height, and the tendency to overreport height increased by grade. Female students were more likely than male students to underreport their weight. Self-reported height, weight, and BMI calculated from these values were highly reliable but were discrepant from measured height, weight, and BMIs calculated from measured values. BMIs based on self-reported height and weight values therefore underestimate the prevalence of overweight in adolescent populations.

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A critique of research on sexual-minority youths.

R C Savin-Williams (2001)

Developmental scientists should seriously reconsider traditional empirical and theoretical paradigms that narrowly define sexual-minority adolescents in terms of those who adopt a culturally defined sexual identity label. A broader consideration of youth populations who have same-sex desires but who might not necessarily identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, lead one to a very different understanding of sexual-minority youths than is apparent in most published studies. First, they are in most regards just like all other adolescents with similar developmental needs and concerns. Second, they are not a homogeneous group but vary among themselves in predictable ways. Third, this expanded definition allows us to conclude that same-sex attraction per se does not lead to pathology or to problematic behavior such as drug abuse, suicide, prostitution or HIV infection. Indeed, researchers and clinicians should focus on the resiliency that often characterizes sexual-minority youths. Copyright 2001 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.

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The health and health care of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents.

M. Schuster, Clayton Coker, S Austin (2009)

Adolescents face a variety of challenges in their transition to adulthood; lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents face these typical challenges as well as additional challenges that are related to the social stigma of their sexual orientation. For some lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents, this stigma may induce psychosocial stress, leading to increased health risk behaviors and poorer health outcomes. In this article, we review data on the health and health care of LGB adolescents. We examine health indicators and health risks for LGB youth, including substance use, eating disorders, suicidality, risky sexual behaviors, violence exposure and victimization, and homelessness. We also examine health care provision and utilization for LGB youth. Lastly, we discuss ways in which researchers and clinicians can improve LGB adolescent health and health care.