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Social anhedonia, a tendency toward experiencing social stimuli as less positive or pleasurable, is associated with maladaptive personality traits, poor interpersonal functioning, and psychopathology, and is typically elevated in males compared with females. However, the correlates of social anhedonia in youth have not been well defined. In this study, 275 young adolescents from a community sample completed measures of social anhedonia, personality, interpersonal functioning, and symptoms; mothers also completed personality and symptom measures. Social anhedonia was associated with low positive emotionality and, to a lesser extent, high disinhibition and negative emotionality. Social anhedonia was also correlated with several markers of poor interpersonal functioning and a wide range of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Interactions between sex variables indicated that associations were particularly strong in males. Overall, findings suggest that social anhedonia is an important construct to explore in early adolescence, with meaningful associations with psychosocial functioning, especially among males.

Background and Purpose This study aimed to develop and test a novel model integrating social-learning and self-medication frameworks by examining the association between self-efficacy to resist alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and daily AOD use and unhealthy drinking risk among trauma-exposed sexual minority women (SMW) and transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people. We examined whether minority stressors moderated these associations. Methods Data were from 57 trauma-exposed SMW and TGD people who participated in a 14-day daily diary study. Multilevel binary logistic models and ordinal logistic models were employed to examine associations between self-efficacy to resist AOD use and daily AOD use and unhealthy drinking risk at within- and between-person levels. We assessed same- and cross-level interactions between daily self-efficacy to resist AOD use and minority stressors in predicting AOD use and unhealthy drinking risk within the same 24-hour period (i.e. standardized as 6 pm to 6 pm ; hereafter referred to as "same-day"). Results Self-efficacy to resist AOD use was associated with lower AOD use and unhealthy drinking risk. Minority stressors were associated with daily AOD use. Among those who experienced higher (vs. lower) average sexual minority stressors over the 2-week daily diary period, higher-than-usual self-efficacy to resist AOD use was less protective in decreasing risk of same-day unhealthy drinking. Conclusions Interventions aiming to mitigate AOD use and unhealthy drinking risk by bolstering self-efficacy to resist AOD use should consider the impact of recent cumulative exposure to sexual minority stressors in this population. Further, policy efforts are needed to reduce perpetuation of stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual violence exposure represents a serious public health issue among female youth given its association with female youths' engagement in health-risk behaviours. Sexual minority female youth are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence exposure, alcohol use, suicidality, and sexual-risk behaviour. Using the population-based 2017 Youth Risk Behaviour Survey, we examined sexual violence as a mediator of sexual orientation disparities in health-risk behaviours among female youth. This study included 7,532 female students in grades 9 through 12 across the US. Participants identified their sexual orientation as heterosexual (73.5%); bisexual (12.2%); and, gay or lesbian (2.2%). Compared to heterosexual female youth, sexual violence exposure, alcohol use, binge drinking, and multiple sex partners were more common among bisexual female youth. The elevated risk of suicidality was most notable among gay or lesbian female youth relative to heterosexual female youth and bisexual female youth relative to heterosexual female youth. Mediation analyses showed that sexual violence exposure partially explained the sexual orientation disparity in these co-occurring health-risk behaviours between bisexual female youth and heterosexual female youth. Our findings highlight the need for clinical attention to be paid to assessing and treating the health effects of sexual violence, especially among bisexual female youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]