Bullying Affects Youth Development, Well-Being of Sexual Minorities

Sexual minority youth scored lower on key indicators for positive youth development compared to their heterosexual peers, according to researchers from University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Bullying was found to be the culprit in the gap in the youth development of these two groups.

Science Daily reports on how bullying affects youth development of sexual minority group. According to Robert W.S. Coulter, M.P.H., lead author and a doctoral student in Pitt Public Health's Deparment of Behavioural and Community Health Sciences, the research measures how bullying obstructs sexual minority youth from accessing important building blocks of total well-being.

"Anti-bullying policies at schools are necessary but insufficient. Multifaceted interventions in all areas, including schools, families and communities, should focus on building more accepting and supportive environments for sexual minority youth," Coulter added.

The researchers analyzed date from a survey of 1,870 adolescents from different U.S. schools and after-school programs across 45 states. The survey measured positive youth development using the Five Cs model. The model assesses the competence, confidence, connection, character and compassion/caring of a person.

High scores of the Five Cs are associated with positive impact to the society. Meanwhile, lower scores linked to different risk behaviours such as cigarette smoking, alcohol use and early sexual initiation. There are also questions in the survey that determine if the participant has been bullied in the past.

Results show that 6.8 were sexual minority youth. Almost 24 percent of them reported being bullied compared to 12 percent in the heterosexual youth. The sexual minority youth was also found to score lower in three of the Five Cs: competence, confidence and connection.

"However, when we adjusted our models to control for the effects of bullying victimization, the differences in scores between sexual-minority and heterosexual youths reduced," said Mr. Coulter. "This suggests that bullying partly explains why sexual-minority youth had lower competence, confidence and connection," he added.

Coulter emphasized that bullying is not the sole factor for the low levels of Five Cs. Bullying is only a part of the whole picture.

Meanwhile, The Huffington Post has made a list of do's and don'ts for parents to use to help their kids handle conflict and bullying. Regardless, where your child belongs, these helpful tips may improve youth development in the future:

Words Matter

Help kids understand the difference between unintentional rude behaviour and bullying. Emphasize that bullying is often done intentionally and repeated over time. Do not let your kids over-label bullying as it can be create a "little boy who cried wolf" phenomenon where kids missing out on adult support and adults failing to taken needed action.

Conflict is Okay

Teach your kids that disagreement is normal. There is always a difference in opinion and it is important to properly communicate them. However, as parents, do not interfere with your kid's relationships. All they need are support from adults to guide them how to resolve conflicts.

Bullying is not Okay

Teach your kids to create healthy friendships by setting boundaries on how they are treated by others. If your kid confesses that he/she is bullied, do not second guess. The feeling of being heard and being understood is essential for these young persons. Help them resolve the problem once they are ready to do it.

Check out the short film about bullying in the video below: