Currently submitted to: JMIR Human Factors
Date Submitted: Nov 4, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Anti-LGBTQ+ Digital Microaggressions: Development and Evaluation of an Online Measure with Youth
ABSTRACT
Background:
Youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or as other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQ+) encounter everyday expressions of prejudice and discrimination via information and communication technologies. This includes sentiments and interactions that may be conceptualized as digital microaggressions.
Objective:
A preliminary measure of anti-LGBTQ+ digital microaggressions was compiled from emerging research and existing microaggressions scales, then tested on an internet-based sample of LGBTQ+ youth (aged 14–24) across three countries (n = 1,804).
Methods:
An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to understand emergent factor structures and vetted using a confirmatory factor analysis.
Results:
Results:
Findings support further appraisal of the 45-item Anti-LGBTQ+ Digital Microaggressions Scale (ADMS), consisting of two three-factor subscales that measure (1) the experience of digital microaggressions directed at oneself and (2) witnessing digital microaggressions directed at others. The direct subscale (23 items) examines discrimination towards LGBTQ+ youth as individuals, including minimization and dismissal of their identity-based experiences. The indirect subscale (22 items) assesses discriminatory content directed at others or ambiently present in internet-based contexts, including negative portrayals of LGBTQ+ individuals and communities.
Conclusions:
Findings raise serious concerns about the prevalence of digital microaggressions in the lives of LGBTQ+ youth and offer a mechanism to support future investigations into this emerging area of research.
Citation
