Sexual minority youth experience disproportionate rates of mental health symptomatology relative to their heterosexual peers. Less is known about why these disparities have persisted despite growing public awareness of sexual diversity. The developmental collision hypothesis states that increased cultural visibility of sexual diversity has accelerated the developmental timing of sexual minority identity formation processes such that they collide with early adolescence, a uniquely sensitive period for experiencing identity-based stigma and associated mental health vulnerability. To test this hypothesis, levels and relations between ages of sexual minority identity development milestones, frequency of LGBT-related victimization, and depressive symptoms were examined across three age-matched but cohort-distinct samples of sexual minority adolescents. Data come from three secondary datasets of sexual minority youth who were adolescents in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, respectively: the Challenges and Coping Study, the Victimization and Mental Health among High Risk Youths Study, and the Risk and Protective Factors for Suicide among Sexual Minority Youth Study (n = 1312; M_age = 17.34, SD = 1.30; 52% female). Adolescents from more recent cohorts reported earlier mean ages of several milestones but similar frequencies of LGBT-related victimization relative to those from less recent cohorts. Path analysis models showed that earlier milestones were associated indirectly with more depressive symptoms through LGBT-related victimization. Notably, earlier ages of self-identification and disclosure of a sexual minority identity were also directly related to less depressive symptoms. Few generational differences in relations between constructs emerged. Findings garner initial support for the developmental collision hypothesis and suggest that LGBT-related victimization, rather than earlier milestones themselves, increases mental health vulnerability.

与异性恋同龄人相比，性少数青少年的心理健康症状发生率不成比例。尽管公众对性别多样性的认识不断增强，但为什么这些差异仍然持续存在，人们知之甚少。发展冲突假说指出，性多样性文化可见度的提高加速了性少数群体身份形成过程的发展时机，从而与青春期早期发生冲突，而青春期是经历基于身份的耻辱和相关心理健康脆弱性的独特敏感时期。为了检验这一假设，我们对三个年龄匹配但队列不同的性少数青少年样本进行了研究，研究了性少数身份发展里程碑的年龄、LGBT 相关受害频率和抑郁症状之间的水平和关系。数据分别来自 20 世纪 90 年代、2000 年代和 2010 年代青少年性少数青少年的三个二级数据集：挑战与应对研究、高危青少年中的受害与心理健康研究以及青少年自杀的风险和保护因素性少数青少年研究（ n = 1312； M_年龄= 17.34，SD = 1.30；52% 女性）。较新的队列中的青少年报告了几个里程碑的平均年龄较早，但与较新的队列中的青少年相比，LGBT 相关受害的频率相似。路径分析模型表明，早期的里程碑通过 LGBT 相关的受害与更多的抑郁症状间接相关。值得注意的是，较早年龄的自我认同和性少数群体身份的披露也与较少的抑郁症状直接相关。 建构之间的关系几乎没有出现代际差异。研究结果初步支持了发育冲突假说，并表明与 LGBT 相关的受害，而不是早期里程碑本身，增加了心理健康的脆弱性。