Content area
Abstract
This study examined how risk factors, verbal and physical victimization, gender atypicality and sexual orientation disclosure, as well as protective factors, sense of mastery, perceived social support and task-oriented coping influence school absenteeism among gay and bisexual male youth. Participants were 268 gay and bisexual identified youth who were attending programs in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (LGB) community-based organizations in New York City and its surrounding suburbs. Youths completed extensive questionnaires and participated in interviews that sought information about the development their sexual orientation, victimization experiences associated with sexual orientation, a variety of mental health variables, and school experiences. Of the GB youth, 18% reported school absenteeism to avoid difficulties related to their sexual orientation. Based on the bivariate analyses, GB youth who reported absenteeism tended to experience higher rates of verbal and physical sexual orientation victimization. Multivariate modeling determined the likelihood of school absenteeism was higher among GB youth who experienced greater verbal victimization. GB youth, regardless of absenteeism status, reported much lower rates of perceived social support than what is typically found in the general population. These finding suggest that sexual orientation victimization of GB male youth may be closely linked to school absenteeism.
