Perceptions of Caring and Mental Health Among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth in Foster Care

Purpose: Identifying the situational and psychological factors that support well-being in disadvantaged sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) youth is important for guiding interventions and policies. The current work investigated differences in the perceptions of caring relationships reported by SGM and cisgender heterosexual youth in foster care and how these differences related to youth’s mental health. Methods: We analyzed data from 727 ninth- and eleventh-grade youth in foster care who completed the 2016 and 2019 Minnesota Student Survey. We used t-tests and multiple linear and logistic regression to study the relationship between sexual orientation and gender identity, perceptions of caring relationships, and mental health among youth in foster care. Results: SGM youth in foster care perceived people around them as caring about them less than did their cisgender heterosexual peers. Greater perceptions of caring were related to reduced mental health concerns among youth in foster care. Mental health concerns were greater among SGM youth than their cisgender heterosexual counterparts, and these differences existed even when controlling for perceptions of caring. Conclusion: SGM foster youth’s perception that the people around them cared about them less than their cisgender heterosexual peers may contribute to differences in mental health often observed among these populations, but cannot wholly explain these differences.