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Le harcèlement sexuel (HS) constitue chez les personnes adolescentes et les jeunes adultes une problématique importante, associée à des conséquences négatives sur leur santé physique et mentale. Sans converger vers une explication théorique dominante, les études suggèrent différents mécanismes explicatifs du HS, soit la performance de genre, la mise en place d’une hiérarchie sociale, la théorie évolutionniste et celle de la revictimisation. Les études montrent aussi que de nombreux facteurs associés au fait d’avoir présenté des troubles de comportement (TC) dans l’enfance sont associés au fait de subir du HS à l’âge adulte (ex. : fréquenter des pairs déviants, avoir de nombreux partenaires sexuels, consommation de substance, perpétration et victimisation de violence par les pairs). Ainsi, l’objectif du présent mémoire est d’identifier les facteurs associés au HS subi par les jeunes adultes dans un échantillon de garçons et de filles ayant présenté des TC durant l’enfance, incluant des garçons et des filles qui n’en ont jamais présenté (n = 544). Pour ce faire, sur la base d’un devis longitudinal, des équations structurelles ont été réalisées. Les résultats montrent que les filles issues de minorités sexuelles, ayant subi un abus sexuel et fréquentant des pairs déviants sont plus à risque de subir du HS, soutenant les théories de revictimisation et de performance de genre. Chez les garçons, ce sont le niveau d’éducation élevé de leur parent, le fait de n’avoir eu aucun partenaire sexuel ou d’en avoir eu deux ou plus qui les rendent plus vulnérables d’être victime de HS, faisant émerger une nouvelle hypothèse sur les mécanismes explicatifs du HS pour ce groupe. Ceci soulève l’importance de la mise en place de mesures préventives et punitives du HS mobilisant différents acteurs autour de ces jeunes vulnérables à subir ce type de violence sexuelle, et sensible aux différences de mécanismes explicatifs du HS vécu selon le sexe.

Both gender nonconformity and sexual minority status during adolescence are associated with elevated levels of victimization and harassment, experiences that have serious consequences for adolescent psychosocial outcomes. While gender nonconformity and sexual minority status reflect separate constructs, they are associated because (1) sexual minority youth report higher levels of gender nonconformity and (2) gender nonconformity is frequently used to attribute sexual minority status by others. Following from classic stigma theory, the current chapter focuses on the role of gender nonconformity in explaining variation in social exclusion and victimization among both sexual minority and sexual majority youth. Of particular interest is the potential for gender nonconformity to mediate or moderate the association between sexual minority status and individual mental health and wellbeing outcomes. Gender differences will also be discussed, focusing on differences between girls and boys in the links between sexual minority status, gender nonconformity, experiences of victimization, and negative psychosocial outcomes. Additionally, the emerging literature on conceptualizing gender nonconformity among trans and non-binary youth will be addressed. Finally, the current chapter will finish with a discussion of how and why gender nonconformity must be taken into consideration in the development of programs aimed at reducing homophobia among adolescent populations.

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals experience intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization at disproportionate rates compared to cisgender and heterosexual individuals. Given the widespread consequences of experiencing IPV victimization, intervention and prevention strategies should identify readily accessible and culturally competent services for this population. SGM individuals who experience IPV victimization face unique individual-, interpersonal-, and systemic-level barriers to accessing informal and formal support services needed to recover from IPV. This chapter reviews IPV victimization prevalence rates among SGM individuals in the context of minority stress and highlights unique forms of IPV victimization affecting this population, namely identity abuse. The literature on help-seeking processes among IPV survivors in general and help-seeking patterns and barriers specifically among SGM individuals who experience IPV victimization in the context of minority stress (e.g., discrimination, internalized stigma, rejection sensitivity, identity concealment) are discussed. How minority stressors at individual, interpersonal, and structural levels act as barriers to help-seeking among SGM individuals experiencing IPV victimization is presented. The chapter concludes with a review of emerging evidence for interventions aimed at reducing help-seeking barriers among SGM individuals who face IPV victimization and a discussion of future directions for research on help-seeking barriers in this population.

Both gender nonconformity and sexual minority status during adolescence are associated with elevated levels of victimization and harassment, experiences that have serious consequences for adolescent psychosocial outcomes. While gender nonconformity and sexual minority status reflect separate constructs, they are associated because (1) sexual minority youth report higher levels of gender nonconformity and (2) gender nonconformity is frequently used to attribute sexual minority status by others. Following from classic stigma theory, the current chapter focuses on the role of gender nonconformity in explaining variation in social exclusion and victimization among both sexual minority and sexual majority youth. Of particular interest is the potential for gender nonconformity to mediate or moderate the association between sexual minority status and individual mental health and wellbeing outcomes. Gender differences will also be discussed, focusing on differences between girls and boys in the links between sexual minority status, gender nonconformity, experiences of victimization, and negative psychosocial outcomes. Additionally, the emerging literature on conceptualizing gender nonconformity among trans and non-binary youth will be addressed. Finally, the current chapter will finish with a discussion of how and why gender nonconformity must be taken into consideration in the development of programs aimed at reducing homophobia among adolescent populations.

Mental health disparities between sexual minority and other youth have been theorized to result in part from the effects of the stigmatization on social integration. Stochastic actor-based modeling was applied to complete network data from two high schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (mean age =15 years, n=2,533). Same-sex attracted youth were socially marginalized in a smaller predominantly White school but not in a larger, more racially diverse school. For both schools, homophily was a critical network feature, and could represent social support for and social segregation of such youth. These findings emphasize school context in studying the social lives of sexual minority youth and suggest that youth may be better off socially in larger and more diverse schools.