Insights on Canadian Society
Bullying victimization among sexually and gender diverse youth in Canada

by Elena Prokopenko and Darcy Hango

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Acknowledgment

This study was funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada.

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Introduction

Several studies on victimization have found that sexual and gender diversity people are at heightened risk of victimization, both online and in-person.^Note   For example, results from the 2014 General Social Survey (GSS) on Canadians’ Safety found that lesbian, gay and bisexual youth (aged 18-29) were about two times more likely than heterosexual youth to have been cyberbullied and cyberstalked in the last 5 years.^Note  More recent Canadian research using the Survey of Individual Safety in the Postsecondary Student Population (SISPSP), found that among students at postsecondary institutions (aged 18-24, or 17-24 in Quebec), LGBTQ2+ persons were twice as likely as heterosexual cisgender peers to have experienced discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.^Note 

Internationally, there is also evidence of the increased risk of harassment among sexually and gender diverse youth. A national study from the United States found that the vast majority (87%) of sexually and gender diverse students experienced some type of harassment or assault on the basis of their personal characteristics in the past year. The most common types experienced were verbal harassment, sexual harassment, and electronic harassment (e.g., via text message, social media).^Note 

The impact of the victimization, including acts of bullying – including being teased, insulted or excluded - can be especially pronounced for young sexual^{Note  Note}  and/or gender diverse people.^{Note  Note}  One study, for instance, found that bullied sexually and gender diverse youth had higher rates of suicide ideation and attempts than their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts.^Note  Additionally, American longitudinal data found that diverse gender expression in childhood was associated with more depressive symptoms in later adolescence, and that bullying victimization accounted for about one-third of the effect.^{Note  Note}   

Beyond these effects, young people’s overall quality of life can be adversely affected over an entire lifetime, impacting their participation and engagement in various aspects of life and society. For instance, academic performance, and in turn, career potential and financial security, can be adversely impacted. A study in the United States found an association between low grade point average, low academic aspirations and victimization amongst sexual and gender diversity students. ^Note 

Indeed, bullying may compound already heightened levels of poor mental health, suicide ideation, and substance use among sexually and gender diverse youth.^Note  The Chief Public Health Officer of Canada’s 2019 Report on the State of Public Health in Canada identified and highlighted the importance of examining the intersectionality between health, discrimination and sexual diversity status.^Note  One explanation for the generally higher levels of physical and mental health issues among sexual and gender diversity persons is found in the minority stress theory.^Note  This theory postulates that the stress of concealment, internalized negative stereotypes, and hypervigilance of potential harm (i.e., the expectation of experiencing discrimination) are negatively associated with mental and physical health.^Note 

This paper examines experiences of bullying in the preceding year (in 2018) among high school-aged (15-17 years old) youth who report same-gender attraction and transgender and non-binary youth regardless of their sexual attraction. This allows for a comparison of experiences of bullying in the preceding year with those of cisgender youth exclusively attracted to a different-gender. ^Note 

The goal of this paper is to report on the experiences of bullying of sexually and gender diverse youth compared to their exclusively different-gender attracted cisgender peers to better understand the relationship between sexual attraction and gender identity, bullying, and health and well-being. This study uses the term sexually and gender diverse youth for transgender youth, those who did not report their gender as exclusively male or female (non-binary youth), and those who are attracted to the same gender.

Sexual and gender diversity among youth associated with higher likelihood to have experienced bullying in past year

The current study operationalizes sexual orientation using a measure of sexual attraction, which was collected on the Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (CHSCY). This measure may be used to capture sexually diverse youth who may not have been sexually intimate with someone, or who may be less likely than their older counterparts to identify with a given sexual identity.^Note  Based on this measure and using sex at birth and gender information of the respondent, the proportion of the age 15 to 17 population that reported they have at least some same-gender attraction is about 18% (almost 188,000), while 82% report attraction exclusively to a different gender (Table 1).

Respondents to the CHSCY were asked about their experiences of being bullied in the past year. Specifically, ten different types of bullying were assessed on measures ranging from being made fun of, to having one’s property destroyed, to more cyberbullying type measures such as having hurtful information posted on the internet (see Data sources, methods and definitions). Experiencing any one of these ten types of bullying at any frequency was reported by nearly three quarters (70%) of all youth aged 15 to 17. However, a larger share of transgender, non-binary, and youth with at least some same-gender attraction (as compared to exclusively different-gender attracted cisgender youth) reported such experiences, 77% versus 69%.^Note  This aligns with previous research in Canada and the United States.^Note   

Being made fun of and called names the most prevalent forms of bullying regardless of sexual attraction or gender identity

Not all types of bullying elicit the same effects, have the same perpetrators, or occur in the same locations. Cyberbullying, for instance, can impact youth at home when they access their social media accounts, while physical bullying likely occurs away from home. The former is likely to have negative emotional and mental health repercussions, while the latter can impact both physical and mental health. Knowing the prevalence of specific types of bullying can help pinpoint potential areas for prevention/intervention.

The most commonly reported form of bullying for all youth aged 15 to 17 is being made fun of or insulted by others (59%) (See Table 2). This is the most prevalent regardless of sexual attraction or gender identity (67% for sexually and gender diverse youth, and 57% for cisgender youth exclusively attracted to a different gender). The next most commonly reported forms of bullying, regardless of sexual attraction or gender identity, were rumours being spread and being excluded from activities.

In contrast, the least common reported forms of bullying are being excluded from an online community, having hurtful information posted on the internet and having property destroyed by others.  In 8 of the 10 forms, a significantly larger share of transgender, non-binary, and youth with at least some same-gender attraction reported bullying as compared to cisgender youth exclusively attracted to a different gender. The exceptions are: being threatened/insulted online or by text messages, and being pushed, shoved, tripped or spit on by others.

Sexually and gender diverse youth were significantly more likely to report experiencing six to ten different forms of bullying

In most cases, experiencing many different forms or types of bullying can have a more harmful impact on youth than if only one form is experienced. The accumulation of stress and emotional health issues related to bullying are likely compounded if an individual is bullied in multiple ways.^Note  The results in Table 3 show that sexually and gender diverse youth were significantly more likely to report one or more forms of bullying.

Meanwhile, sexually and gender diverse youth were significantly more likely to report experiencing six to ten different forms of bullying in the past 12 months (16%), just over one and half times as many as cisgender youth who reported being exclusively attracted to a different gender (10%).

Sexually and gender diverse youth were nearly twice as likely to report weekly or daily bullying on multiple forms of bullying

Similar to multiple types of bullying, experiencing frequent repeated episodes of bullying is typically more harmful than occasional incidents. In one study, frequent bullying between the ages of 8 and 10 was found to increase the risk of self-harm by age 12.^Note   In the present context, the CHSCY asked about the frequency of experiencing the 10 forms of bullying within the preceding year. For the current study, frequent bullying is defined as at least once a week (i.e., weekly or daily).^Note 

Table 4 shows that sexually and gender diverse youth were significantly more likely than cisgender youth with exclusive different-gender attraction to frequently experience multiple types of bullying. In particular, 9.7% of transgender, non-binary, and youth with same-gender attraction experienced two or more of incidents of bullying on a weekly or daily basis compared to 5.6% of youth with exclusive different-gender attraction. However, there was no difference in frequency between the groups when a single type of bullying was experienced.

Association between bullying, gender attraction and mental health, suicide ideation, and truancy

Bullying can impact overall well-being. The stress associated with being bullied often results in worse physical and mental health outcomes among victims.^Note  And, in some cases, the bullying can increase the risk of suicide ideation and substance abuse.^Note  These outcomes are often intertwined. For instance, there is a strong connection between poorer mental health and thoughts of suicide.^Note  In this paper, three potential well-being indicators are examined: mental health, suicide ideation, and truancy (skipping school without permission). (See Data sources, methods and definitions) For each of the three indicators, logistic regressions were estimated to examine the independent association of sexual attraction and gender identity and bullying on well-being, controlling for a range of socio-demographic factors, as well as other characteristics.^Note  The derived estimates are reported in Table 5.

After socio-demographic and socio-economic factors were taken into account, sexually and gender diverse youth who were bullied in the previous year had a considerably higher probability of poorer mental health, with 33% describing their own mental health as poor. This figure was twice the probability of sexually and gender diverse youth who were not bullied (16%) and bullied youth who were cisgender and exclusively attracted to a different-gender (16%).

Bullied youth also showed higher risk of reporting recent suicidal ideation, though again, this was more common among sexually and gender diverse youth. In 2019, bullied youth with same-gender attraction or who were transgender or non-binary were twice as likely to consider taking their own life in the last year, as compared to other bullied youth (respective probabilities of 27% and 13%, after other factors were taken into account). Cisgender youth who were not bullied and who were exclusively attracted to a different gender were the least likely to have had suicidal thoughts in the last year, at 5%.

Perhaps reflecting the poorer mental health and/or desire to avoid bullying incidents, bullied youth were most likely to skip school. After socio-demographic and socio-economic factors were taken into account, the probability of skipping school at least three times in the past year was 20% among bullied sexual and gender diversity youth and 16% among bullied youth that were exclusively attracted to a different gender. This compares to a 10% probability among sexual and gender diversity youth who had not experienced bullying and 9% for non-bullied youth with exclusive different-gender attraction.

Conclusion

Bullying victimization of sexually and gender diverse youth is generally more prevalent than among the heterosexual and cisgender population in Canada. In the current paper, a measure of sexual attraction was used to identify the sexual and gender diversity population at increased risk of bullying. Youth aged 15 to 17 who were attracted to the same gender together with transgender and non-binary youth were compared with cisgender teens with exclusive different-gender attraction. This study showed that transgender, non-binary, and youth with at least some same-gender attraction youth were significantly more likely to have experienced any form of bullying in the past year (77%) than exclusively different-gender attracted cisgender youth (69%). This difference remained even when taking into account a wide range of sociodemographic factors.

Sexually and gender diverse youth were more likely to be victims of nearly all of the 10 forms of bullying measured in this survey. The differences between the sexually and gender diverse youth and exclusively different-gender attracted cisgender youth were especially large for three forms of bullying: (1) being made fun of, called names or insulted by others, (2) being excluded from activities, and (3) having rumours spread by others.

Same-gender attracted, transgender and non-binary youth also experienced a greater number of these 10 types than their exclusively different-gender attracted, cisgender counterparts. At the same time, sexually and gender diverse youth experienced more instances of frequent bullying (weekly or daily) than youth who reported being cisgender and only attracted to a different gender.

Bullying is often associated with negative health and well-being outcomes. A great deal of past research has examined these issues using a framework synonymous with minority stress theory, which states that the stress among sexually and gender diverse youth associated with concealing one’s sexual orientation or gender identity, or with acts of violence and bullying may manifest themselves into poor mental health, suicide ideation, and truancy. In line with past work, the current study found that being a victim of bullying and reporting same-gender attraction, being transgender or non-binary was related to poorer mental health, including heightened risk of suicide ideation. The results also suggest that bullying may impact school attendance. Sexually and gender diverse youth who were bullied in the past year were more likely to frequently skip school without permission.

For the first time in Canada, data from the Canadian Health Survey of Children and Youth are available to examine bullying among sexually and gender diverse youth based on a nationally-representative sample. Taken together, the findings in this paper highlight issues among an infrequently studied adolescent population and one that is vulnerable to victimization. The findings enhance our understanding of the experiences sexually and gender diverse youth have with bullying and the subsequent relationship with well-being indicators, which can help inform public health, education, and youth-focused policies. And, given that the sexually and gender diverse population in Canada is younger, on average,^Note  continued youth-focused research is needed to inform programs and policies about issues facing this population.  

Elena Prokopenko is an analyst with Diversity and Sociocultural Statistics and Darcy Hango is a senior researcher with the Centre for Social Data Insights and Innovation.

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