Structural Stigma and LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health

Structural stigma has been shown to have negative consequences on LGBTQ+ youth's mental health. Most research has focused on stigma at the national or state level, limiting understanding of how local institutions and environments influence mental health. In the current study, we sought to examine the association of multiple layers of structural stigma (e.g., at the county and state levels) on depression and anxiety severity, substance use, and mental healthcare access, for LGBTQ+ youth in the United States. Thus, we recruited 609 LGBTQ+ youth (Mage = 15.6, SDage = 1.17; 71.9% White) to complete survey measures about their mental health and access to care. Further, we extracted 2023 data from Project Implicit and the Human Rights Campaign to create factors of structural stigma at the county and state levels. Consistent with existing literature, our results demonstrate that structural stigma, particularly when examined at the county level (as opposed to the state level), may exert significant impacts on mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and substance use severity for LGBTQ+ youth.