Results: Demographics

Baseline characteristics

Age: At the start of the study, 41% of participants were ages 13 to 17 and 59% were ages 18 to 24; the median age was 18. By Wave 5, or two years later, the median age had risen to 21.

Race/ethnicity: Participants were racially and ethnically diverse; most (68%) were LGBTQ+ young people of color. Participants identified as White (32%), Multiracial (25%), Black or African American (17%), Hispanic/Latinx (15%), Asian American or Pacific Islander (8%), Native American/Indigenous (2%), and Middle Eastern or North African (1%). The distribution of race/ethnicity did not change significantly across the study.

Sexual orientation: At baseline, participants reported a range of sexual orientations, with a plurality identifying as bisexual (23%). The remainder of participants identified as lesbian (20%), gay (19%), pansexual (15%), queer (11%), asexual (8%), and heterosexual (1%). Three percent of participants indicated they were not sure of their sexual orientation. The majority of participants (72%) reported the same sexual orientation at Wave 5 as they did at baseline; changes in sexual orientation over time were not statistically significant when accounting for attrition across the study.

Gender identity: Nearly half of participants (48%) were cisgender – 21% cisgender boys/men and 27% cisgender girls/women. Nonbinary youth made up 30% of the sample, transgender youth made up 18% (11% transgender boys/men, 7% transgender girls/women), and 5% were questioning their gender identity. The majority (82%) reported the same gender identity at Wave 5 as they did at baseline; however, changes in gender identity over time were statistically significant when accounting for attrition across the study. These changes reflect both within-person changes in reported gender identity and differences in participant retention over time.