Mindfulness as a Coping Strategy for Bias Based School Victimization among Latina/o Sexual Minority Youth.
This study examined whether mindfulness strategies (e.g. acting non judgmentally with awareness and attention to present events) were effective in mitigating the associations among school based victimization related to ethnicity and sexual orientation, well being (i.e. depressive symptoms and self esteem) and grade point average (GPA) The U.S. based sample included 236 Latina/o sexual minority students, ranging in age from 14 to 24 years (47% were enrolled in secondary schools, 53% in postsecondary schools) Results from structural equation modeling revealed that ethnicity based school victimization was negatively associated with GPA but not well being. However, sexual orientation based victimization was not associated with well being or GPA. Mindfulness was positively associated with well being but not GPA. High levels of mindfulness coping were protective when the stressor was sexual orientation based victimization but not ethnicity based school victimization. These findings contribute to a growing literature documenting the unique school barriers experienced by Latina/o sexual minority youth and highlight the promising utility of mindfulness based intervention strategies for coping with minority stress.
Psychology of sexual orientation and gender diversity