The online environments of sexual and gender minority youth: Contexts of risk and resilience

Adolescents, in general, are spending more time in online environments, and understanding how youth navigate these contexts may be particularly important for addressing and improving outcomes among sexual and gender minority youth. Taking a developmental perspective, this review discusses online environments as contexts of both risk and resilience for youth in gender and sexual minority communities. In particular, we review literature highlighting how online environments provide a context for many salient aspects of adolescent development, including the promotion of identity development and the exploration of intimate, romantic and sexual behavior. The potential for online environments to serve as contexts for discrimination and victimization for gender and sexual minority youth are also discussed. Specific recommendations for parents, teachers and sexual and gender minority youth themselves are made for creating and promoting positive wellbeing in online spaces.Key Take Away Points [list][list_item] -Sexual and gender minority youth, like all youth, are spending increasing amounts of time online [/list_item] [list_item] -Online environments provide important opportunities for identity exploration, relationship formation and information gathering [/list_item] [list_item] -Sexual and gender minority youth may be particularly likely to explore sexual behavior online [/list_item] [list_item] -Online environments can also harbor risks in terms of cyber victimization and unwanted solicitation (i.e., online predation) [/list_item] [list_item] -Parents, teachers, and youth play an important role in helping adolescents to navigate online environments [/list_item] [/list]