# Adolescent health at the intersections of sexual, gender, racial/ethnic, immigrant identities and native language

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2022 · $908,787

## Abstract

Project Abstract
 Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adolescents are at disproportionate risk of poor health behaviors,
experiences and outcomes compared to their straight, cisgender peers. SGM youth, however, are not a
homogenous population; each has multiple social identities that affect the risk and protection they experience.
Intersectionality refers to ways in which power and privilege are structured based on interrelated social
positions (e.g. due to race/ethnicity, immigrant status, native language) and how individual experiences reflect
processes that confer privilege and disadvantage. Mutually constitutive forms of social oppression (e.g., stigma
simultaneously based on race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation) may differentially affect the health of
SGM people with multiple marginalized social positions. Living within these intersecting social positions may
give rise to unique challenges as well as strengths that promote healthy development among youth.
 The landmark 2011 National Academy of Medicine (NAM) report on the health of SGM populations and
additional recent reports have highlighted the need for health research using an intersectionality framework,
explicitly including both risk and resilience, to inform interventions supporting SGM youth. Building on the
nascent literature suggesting that Latino and Black/African American SGM youth might be at heightened risk,
the proposed study responds to NOT-MD-19-001 and addresses the following research question regarding
SGM adolescents (12-19 years old): 1) What are differences in bullying, risk behaviors, emotional distress, and
protective factors among youth with different social positions (i.e. racial/ethnic groups, immigrant experiences,
and native language)? 2) How do differences in protective factors and other characteristics explain differences
in these outcomes among youth with different social positions? and 3) What positive and negative experiences
are particularly relevant to the overlapping, simultaneous production of inequalities by SGM identity,
race/ethnicity, immigration experiences, and native language? We will answer these questions with two study
aims: First, conduct extensive analysis of three existing adolescent health datasets: the Minnesota
Student Survey (N~122,000), California Healthy Kids Survey (N~1,042,000), and the LGBTQ National Teen
Survey (N~17,000), which have different samples, demographic profiles, and measures. We will test multiple
hypotheses using both harmonized and parallel analyses. Second, conduct qualitative interviews with 64-80
SGM youth from different social positions to more deeply understand quantitative findings and generate
concrete, relevant recommendations for interventions. We will focus on up to four intersecting social positions
where SGM youth face the greatest disparities, as identified in Aim A, and specific protective factors identified
in Aim A will be the focus of interviews to “dig deep” beyond brief survey measures. Quali...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10343667
- **Project number:** 5R01MD015722-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Marla E. Eisenberg
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $908,787
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-02-05 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10343667

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10343667, Adolescent health at the intersections of sexual, gender, racial/ethnic, immigrant identities and native language (5R01MD015722-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10343667. Licensed CC0.

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