Bullying and victimization among youth in out-of-home placement (OOH) and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth were investigated. Participants were 16,766 high school students, with 560 (3%) identifying as OOH, 1539 (9%) as LGBT, and 113 (1%) as OOH+LGBT. Independent samples t-tests and structural equation modeling were used to assess group differences. Results indicated higher levels of 30 day victimization and 30 day bullying for OOH youth compared to non-OOH youth, LGBT youth compared to non-LGBT youth, and OOH+LGBT youth compared to OOH only/LGBT only youth. Positive parenting, peer relationships, and school support mitigated bullying and victimization for all groups; however OOH, LGBT, and OOH+LGBT youth reported significantly lower mean levels of support from these sources than non-OOH/non-LGBT youth.

Paper presented to the 7th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Marcus Welcome Center, Wichita State University, May 4, 2011.Research completed at the Department of Psychology