Child Abuse & Neglect 67 (2017) 1–12
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Child Abuse & Neglect
Social Ecological Correlates of Polyvictimization among a
National Sample of Transgender, Genderqueer, and Cisgender
Sexual Minority Adolescents
Paul R. Sterzing
a,*
, G. Allen Ratliff
a
, Rachel E. Gartner
a
, Briana L. McGeough
a
,
Kelly C. Johnson
b
a
School of Social Welfare, University of California, 120 Haviland Hall, #7400, Berkeley, CA, 94720-7400, USA
b
School of Public Health, University of California, 2199 Addison St., #7360, Berkeley, CA, 94720-7360, USA
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 24 September 2016
Received in revised form 5 February 2017
Accepted 10 February 2017
Keywords:
polyvictimization
sexual minority
gender minority
microaggressions
mental health
peer rejection
a b s t r a c t
Polyvictimization is a common experience for youth in the United States, with 20% nation-
ally experiencing five or more different forms of victimization in the last year. Utilizing a
large, national convenience sample of sexual and gender minority adolescents (N = 1177,
14-19 years old), the current study aimed to (a) generate the first estimates of last year
polyvictimization (including nine victimization subtypes) for transgender, genderqueer,
and cisgender (i.e., assigned birth sex aligns with gender identity) sexual minority adoles-
cents and (b) identify social ecological correlates of last year polyvictimization. The study
utilized an online survey advertised through Facebook and community organizations across
the United States. Approximately, 40% of participants experienced ten or more different
forms of victimization in the last year and were classified as polyvictims. A significantly
higher percentage of transgender female (63.4%), transgender male (48.9%), genderqueer
assigned male at birth (71.5%) and genderqueer assigned female at birth (49.5%) were
polyvictimized in comparison to cisgender sexual minority males (33.0%). Polyvictimiza-
tion rates for cisgender sexual minority females (35.1%) were not significantly different
from male counterparts (33.0%). Several significant risk factors for polyvictimization were
identified: genderqueer identity for participants assigned male at birth and higher-levels
of posttraumatic stress, family-level microaggressions, and peer rejection. The manuscript
concludes with recommendations for future research including the exploration of factors
(e.g., lack of community support, gender-role policing) associated with higher polyvic-
timization rates for genderqueer adolescents. Additionally, professionals (e.g., foster care,
homeless shelters, schools) require new tools to assess for polyvictimization among sexual
and gender minority adolescents.
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1.
Polyvictimization is often defined as experiencing five or more different forms of victimization (e.g., bullying, sexual
abuse, dating violence, etc.) in the last year (Finkelhor et al., 2007a). Polyvictimization is a common experience for youth in
*
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sterzing@berkeley.edu (P.R. Sterzing).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.02.017
0145-2134/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.