TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Proposition 8 and homophobic bullying in California
JO  - Pediatrics
A1  - Hatzenbuehler, Mark L.
A1  - Shen, Yishan
A1  - Vandewater, Elizabeth A.
A1  - Russell, Stephen T.
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - 143
IS  - 6
N2  - BACKGROUND: Bias-based bullying is associated with negative outcomes for youth, but its contextual predictors are largely unknown. Voter referenda that target lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender groups may be 1 contextual factor contributing to homophobic bullying. <br><br>METHODS: Data come from 14 consecutive waves (2001-2014) of cross-sectional surveys of students participating in the California Healthy Kids Survey (<i>N</i> = 4 977 557). Student responses were aggregated to the school level (<i>n</i> = 5121). Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared rates of homophobic bullying before and after Proposition 8, a voter referendum that restricted marriage to heterosexuals in November 2008. <br><br>RESULTS: Interrupted time series analyses confirmed that the academic year 2008-2009, during which Proposition 8 was passed, served as a turning point in homophobic bullying. The rate of homophobic bullying increased (<i>b</i><sub>linear</sub> = 1.15; <i>P</i> <.001) and accelerated (<i>b</i><sub>quadratic</sub> = 0.08; <i>P</i> <.001) in the period before Proposition 8. After Proposition 8, homophobic bullying gradually decreased (<i>b</i><sub>linear</sub> = -0.28; <i>P</i> <.05). Specificity analyses showed that these trends were not observed among students who reported that they were bullied because of their race and/or ethnicity, religion, or gender but not because of their sexual orientation. Furthermore, the presence of a protective factor specific to school contexts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth (gay-straight alliances) was associated with a smaller increase in homophobic bullying pre-Proposition 8. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This research provides some of the first empirical evidence that public campaigns that promote stigma may confer risk for bias-based bullying among youth.<br><br>Copyright © 2019 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0031-4005
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-2116
ID  - ref1
ER  -