Bullying Victimization and Sexual Wellbeing in Sexually Active Heterosexual, Cisgender and Sexual/Gender Minority Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation

Gender Identity and Mental Health Symptom Severity Among Adolescents Admitted to an Inpatient Psychiatric Hospital

Transgender youth are at an increased risk of suicide, substance use, experiencing violent assaults, and reporting major depressive episodes and greater psychological distress compared to their cisgender counterparts. This study examined mental health symptom severity in adolescents admitted to an inpatient psychiatric hospital who wished they were of a different gender compared to those who did not. A group of 180 adolescents admitted to an inpatient psychiatric hospital completed assessments to measure mental health symptom severity at admission. Gender diverse (n = 90) and cisgender (n = 90) groups were established. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were used to examine between group (gender diverse vs. cisgender) difference on depression, anxiety, suicide risk, nighttime sleep quality, and emotion regulation problems. Results revealed significant differences in emotion regulation difficulties at admission, specifically in nonacceptance and awareness. There were no significant differences on measures of depression, anxiety, suicide risk, and nighttime sleep quality at admission. This study is one of the first to measure mental health symptom severity in gender diverse adolescents while admitted to an inpatient psychiatric setting. Adolescents in the gender diverse group had significantly higher level of difficulty with emotion regulation, which may indicate an increased risk of developing psychiatric symptoms such as depression and anxiety. This paper demonstrates the importance of using targeted interventions to address difficulties with emotion regulation in at-risk adolescents.

Dating Violence Trajectories in Adolescence: How Do They Relate to Sexual Outcomes in Canada?

Dating violence during adolescence is a major public health issue: it is highly prevalent and extensive research has documented its physical and psychological consequences, yet very little has focused on its sexual consequences. The present study investigated the longitudinal associations between dating violence victimization (psychological, sexual or physical) and sexual well-being (sexual satisfaction and sexual distress) among 1442 sexually active adolescents aged between 14 and 17 years who completed at least one of three data waves (51.1% girls; 45.7% boys; 0.3% non-binary; 3.0% varying gender identity). The study also examined whether these associations differed by gender identity and sexual minority status. Adolescents completed online questionnaires on electronic tablets during class. The results indicated that psychological, physical (except for boys), and sexual dating violence victimization were all associated with lower sexual satisfaction and greater sexual distress over time. Moreover, the between-level associations between dating violence and poorer sexual outcomes were stronger among girls and gender varying adolescents than among boys. The within-level association between physical dating violence and sexual satisfaction was significant among adolescents with a nonvarying sexual minority status, but not among those with a nonvarying heterosexual status or that varied in sexual minority status. Findings offer cues for dating violence prevention and intervention programs by suggesting the need to examine sexual well-being over time.

Examining how and why polygenic dopamine composite levels moderate adolescents' vulnerability to peer victimization

Extensive literature documents that dopaminergic genes play an important role in the link between adverse environments and adolescents' problem behavior. However, little is known about the potential mechanism underlying adolescents' vulnerability to peer victimization. The current study examined the effect of the interplay between a polygenic dopamine composite (i.e., COMT Val158Met and DRD2-141C Ins/Del polymorphisms) and peer victimization on adolescents' externalizing problems as well as the mediating role of emotion dysregulation in the interactive effects in a sample of 393 Chinese adolescents (Mean age = 14.71 years; 50.1% girls). A significant moderation of dopaminergic genetic composite was observed in girls but not in boys. In addition, emotion dysregulation partially explained the moderating effect of dopaminergic genes. Specifically, girls with genic composite indexing low dopamine activity reported a higher level of emotion dysregulation when faced with more peer victimization. More difficulties with emotion regulation, in turn, predicted more pronounced externalizing problems in girls. This study underscores polygenic underpinnings of adolescent vulnerability to negative peer experiences and suggests the importance of considering sex differences when investigating genic influence on the relationship between adverse environments and externalizing problems.

Present hedonism and future time perspectives predicting hypersexuality and problematic pornography use

The Time Perspective (TP) theory (i.e., the psychological experience regarding time) was often examined in association with different addictive behaviors, and the different TPs (i.e., Past Positive, Past Negative, Present Hedonistic, Present Fatalistic, and Future TPs) demonstrated different relationship patterns with them. However, most studies were conducted in relation to substance use-related disorders, leaving crucial knowledge gaps concerning the associations between TPs and potential behavioral addictions. The aim of the present study was to examine the associations between the five TP dimensions, hypersexuality, and problematic pornography use (PPU), considering potential gender differences. Participants from two independent samples (N₁ = 554; N₂ = 453) completed a self-report survey on TPs and sexual behaviors. Structural equation modeling results indicated that the Present Hedonistic TP had a positive, moderate, and the Future TP had a negative, weak association with hypersexuality in both samples. Only the Present Hedonistic TP had a significant, positive, weak-to-moderate association with PPU across the samples. The explained variances of the models were higher in case of hypersexuality (28 and 27%, respectively), than in case of PPU (1 and 14%, respectively). No significant gender differences were observed. In line with previous findings concerning other predictors of hypersexuality and PPU, the results of the present study suggest that hypersexuality and PPU may differ from each other in terms of their TP background. Yet, present hedonism, which is related to impulsivity, may play an important role in both problematic sexual behaviors, suggesting that interventions focusing on this TP might be successful in reducing hypersexuality and PPU.

Exposure to Social Media Racial Discrimination and Mental Health among Adolescents of Color

Offline and online racial discrimination has been associated with mental health problems among adolescents of color. Pandemic shelter-at-home policies and the reignited racial justice movement increased the use of social media among youth of color, potentially exposing them to social media racial discrimination. Yet, it is unclear which aspects of social media significantly contributed to youth exposure to racial discrimination and associated mental health issues during this period. This study assessed the relationships among social media use (hours, racial intergroup contact, and racial justice civic engagement), individual and vicarious social media discrimination (defined as personally directed versus observing discrimination directed at others), and mental health among 115 black, 112 East/Southeast Asian, 79 Indigenous, and 101 Latinx adolescents (N = 407, 82.31% female, aged 15-18 years, M = 16.47, SD = 0.93). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses indicate that hours of use and racial justice civic engagement were associated with increased social media racial discrimination, depressive symptoms, anxiety, alcohol use disorder, and drug use problems. Furthermore, individual social media racial discrimination fully mediated the relationship between racial justice civic publication and depressive and alcohol use disorder. Vicarious social media racial discrimination fully mediated the relationship between racial justice activity coordination with depressive symptoms, anxiety, and alcohol use disorder. Alternative SEM models indicate that exposure to individual and vicarious social media racial discrimination increased depressive symptoms and drug use problems among youth of color, further increasing their social media use frequency and racial justice civic publication. The findings call for strategies to mitigate the effects of social media racial discrimination in ways that support adolescents' racial justice civic engagement and mental health.