Strengths and Vulnerabilities of a Sample of Gay and Bisexual Male Adolescents in Puerto Rico

Résumé 0

"Adolescence is a developmental process with multiple psychosocial dimensions and the social meanings attributed to itplace youth in a social limbo; they are not children but not yet adults. It is important to contextualize the difficulties gayadolescents face due to their sexual identity, their social vulnerability associated to their particular developmental process,and their ethnicity. We explore the vulnerabilities and strengths of a sample of Puerto Rican gay and bisexual (GB) maleyouth. Participants were 61 highly educated GB youths living in Puerto Rico. Levels of depression, perceived socialsupport, alcohol and drug use, and sexual behavior were assessed. Results show that 45% of participants reported highlevels of depression. However participants reported low levels of alcohol and drug consumption, no unprotected sexualbehavior, and high satisfaction with social support. Participants showed a high level of resilience associated to their socialnetworks, consistent use of protection for high-risk sexual behavior, and capacity to integrate their sexual orientation to theiroverall development in a heterosexist Latino society. Although results cannot be generalized to all Puerto Rican GB youth,they are useful to support the need for community level interventions addressing the strengths of this population."