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Bullying victimization, psychosocial functioning, and protective factors: Comparing African American heterosexual and sexual minority adolescents in Chicago's Southside
Author(s) -
Hong Jun Sung,
Valido Alberto,
RivasKoehl Matthew M.,
Wade Ryan M.,
Espelage Dorothy L.,
Voisin Dexter R.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.22521
Subject(s) - psychosocial , sexual minority , psychology , clinical psychology , psychological intervention , protective factor , african american , substance use , psychiatry , lesbian , medicine , ethnology , psychoanalysis , history
African American heterosexual and sexual minority (SM) adolescents report widespread bullying victimization (BV), which is associated with poorer psychosocial functioning. However, studies examining potential protective factors that moderate this association are limited. Using data from a cross‐sectional study conducted in Chicago, we examined the association between BV and psychosocial functioning among a sample of heterosexual ( n = 475) and SM ( n = 105) African American adolescents and examined whether four empirically‐supported protective factors moderated these associations. Among SM adolescents, having close parents was protective against psychosomatic symptoms for those who reported high BV and having caring teachers was protective against substance use for those who reported both high and low BV. Among heterosexual adolescents, having close parents was protective against substance use for those who reported high BV but having high neighborhood support exacerbated the risk of developing psychosomatic symptoms for those who reported high BV. Implications for school and parental‐based interventions are discussed.