@article{ref1,
title="Beyond same-sex attraction: gender-variant-based victimization is associated with suicidal behavior and substance use for other-sex attracted adolescents",
journal="PLoS one",
year="2015",
author="Ioerger, Michael and Henry, Kimberly L. and Chen, Peter Y. and Cigularov, Konstantin P. and Tomazic, Rocco G.",
volume="10",
number="6",
pages="e0129976-e0129976",
abstract="Gender-variant-based victimization is victimization based on the way others perceive an individual to convey masculine, feminine, and androgynous characteristics through their appearance, mannerisms, and behaviors. Previous work identifies gender-variant-based victimization as a risk factor for health-risking outcomes among same-sex attracted youths. The current study seeks to examine this relationship among other-sex attracted youths and same-sex attracted youth, and determine if gender-variant-based victimization is similarly or differentially associated with poor outcomes between these two groups. Anonymous data from a school-based survey of 2,438 racially diverse middle and high school students in the Eastern U.S. was examined. For other-sex attracted adolescents, gender-variant-based victimization was associated with a higher odds of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, regular use of cigarettes, and drug use. When compared to same-sex attracted adolescents, the harmful relationship between gender-variant-based victimization and each of these outcomes was similar in nature. These findings suggest that gender-variant-based victimization has potentially serious implications for the psychological wellbeing and substance use of other-sex attracted adolescents, not just same-sex attracted adolescents, supporting the need to address gender expression as a basis for victimization separate from sexuality- or gender-minority status. The impact that gender-variant-based victimization has on all adolescents should not be overlooked in research and interventions aimed at addressing sexual orientation-based and gender-variant-based victimization, substance use, and suicide prevention.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1932-6203",
doi="10.1371/journal.pone.0129976",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0129976"
}