Resource access and use: Impacts on distal minority stressors for racial and sexual diverse youth in rural and urban contexts

Sexually and racially diverse (SD) adolescents experience elevated proximal and distal minority stressors that vary across school, community, and policy contexts. Limited research has examined how access to and use of LGBTQIA+ supportive structures, such as Gender and Sexualities Alliances (GSAs), LGBTQIA+ community centers, and affirming school staff, shape distal minority stress for racially and sexually diverse youth across geographic settings. Using cross-sectional national sample data of SD adolescents from the Adolescent Stress Experiences Over Time Study (ASETS; N = 1076), this study applied binary logistic regression and linear regression to assess how racial identity, urbanicity, and structural access to and use of LGBTQ community centers and school affirmative SD groups are associated with distal sexual minority stress domains (homonegative climate, social marginalization, and intersectional stress), friend social support, and coping skills. Results indicated that GSA presence, regardless of individual participation, was associated with reduced odds of minority stress across all domains, while attending a GSA was further associated with increased use of engagement-oriented coping strategies. Conversely, community center attendance was associated with higher odds of social marginalization, suggesting contextual variability in the protective impacts of community-based supports. Geographic differences in distal minority stress were evident in only one domain, homonegative climate, and rurality was not significantly associated with differences in peer social support or coping. Findings underscore the importance of school-embedded, structurally inclusive supports for reducing minority stress and bolstering resilience among sexually and racially diverse adolescents, and highlight ongoing gaps in support for youth outside urban areas or in restrictive community climates. Future research should examine culturally grounded mechanisms that enhance the effectiveness of supportive structures and ensure inclusivity across racial and geographic contexts.