Ricerc@Sapienza

We explored the differences among 327 lesbian, gay, and/or bisexual (LGB) individuals on the dimensions of the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Positive Identity Measure (LGB-PIM), a recently developed instrument to assess positive facets of LGB identity. We evaluated the relationship between the dimensions of LGB-PIM and self-relating processes (self-criticism, self-hate, and self-reassurance), internalized sexual stigma (ISS), social safeness and well-being, and the distinctive impact of the LGB-PIM dimensions on well-being.

Most of the research on lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth has focused on mental health disparities, at-risk behaviors, and victimization. Very few studies have used a resilience perspective studying the well-being of LGB youth as a unique vector of experience that is different from the absence of mental health problems (Mohr and Kendra, 2011; Kertzner, et al., 2009; Riggle et al., 2014).

It is well established in the literature that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) students are more likely to be bullied at school compared to heterosexual students (Kann et al., 2016). There also has been strong evidence of the detrimental impact of homophobic bullying (HB) on the well-being of LGB youth. In fact, LGB students who are victims of HB are more likely to internalize negative prejudice on LGB people reporting high levels of internalized sexual stigma (ISS) (Baiocco et al., 2010; Blais et al., 2014; Collier et al., 2013).