Internalized homophobia as a partial mediator between homophobic bullying and self-esteem among youths of sexual minorities in Quebec (Canada)

Résumé 0

"Verbal/psychological homophobic bul- lying is widespread among youths of sexual mi- norities. Homophobic bullying has been associa- ted with both high internalized homophobia and low self-esteem. The objectives were to document verbal/psychological homophobic bullying among youths of sexual minorities and model the relati- onships between homophobic bullying, interna- lized homophobia and self-esteem. A community sample of 300 youths of sexual minorities aged 14 to 22 years old was used. A structural equation model was tested using a nonlinear, robust esti- mator implemented in Mplus. The model postu- lated that homophobic bullying impacts self-este- em both directly and indirectly, via internalized homophobia. 60.7% of the sample reported at le- ast one form of verbal/psychological homophobic bullying. The model explained 29% of the vari- ance of self-esteem, 19.6% of the variance of in- ternalized homophobia and 5.3% of the verbal/ psychological homophobic bullying. The model suggests that the relationship between verbal/ psychological homophobic bullying and self-este- em is partially mediated by internalized homo- phobia. The results underscore the importance of initiatives to prevent homophobic bullying in order to prevent its negative effects on the well- being of youths of sexual minorities."