Date of Award

January 2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Department

School of Public Health

First Advisor

Skyler Jackson

Abstract

Background: Little research focuses on the mental health consequences of stigma for plurisexual teens, with even less research comparing cisgender plurisexual youth to nonbinary plurisexual youth.Aims: To assess whether having both a marginalized sexual orientation and a marginalized gender identity is associated with greater risk or greater resilience in depression and anxiety outcomes among teens in the US. Methods: Data was analyzed from the 2022 LGBTQ Teen Survey. Inclusion in the study required being an English speaker living in the US, being 13-18 years old, and identifying as cisgender and plurisexual (n=1547) or gender nonbinary and plurisexual (n=1867). Statistical tests compared depression and anxiety outcomes by gender identity. Results: Nonbinary youths were more likely than cisgender youths to report having depression and anxiety symptoms. Nonbinary participants also reported less parental acceptance, less school safety, and more bully victimization than cisgender youths. Nonbinary youths were less likely to report internalized stigma compared to cisgender youths. Conclusions: These findings suggest interventions should prioritize combating proximal stigma for cisgender plurisexual youths, and they should prioritize combating distal stigma for nonbinary youths.

Comments

This thesis is restricted to Yale network users only. It will be made publicly available on 05/22/2026

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