Digital microaggressions and LGBTQ+ youth: exploring potential impacts and opportunities for educational intervention

Abstract

LGBTQ+ youth frequently leverage the affordances of internet-enabled information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support their identity development, mental health, and well-being. Yet, anti-LGBTQ+ intolerance simultaneously persists in their digitally mediated contexts—including in the form of digital microaggressions. Data from an online survey of LGBTQ+ youth (age 14–24) residing across the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada were used to explore the relationships between six types of digital microaggressions, perceived stress, mental health, and psychological well-being through structural equation modelling. Findings suggest that exposure to some types of digital microaggressions may produce direct, incremental, and negative impacts on LGBTQ+ youth. Experiencing and witnessing discriminatory digital microaggressions had the most consistently significant relationships. Opportunities for future scholarship and insights for supportive intervention by caregivers, educators, and other professionals are discussed.