Benton Renley

Entered the Program: 2021

Ph.D., Human Development and Family Sciences

Area of Specialization: Health, Wellbeing, and Prevention

Previous Education:

B.A., Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut, 2020

B.A., Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 2020

Research Interests:

Sexual and gender minority youth health and wellbeing
Intersectional minority stress

Advising Committee:

Major Advisor: Ryan J. Watson

Publications:

Caba, A. E., Mallory, A. B., Simon, K. A., Renley, B. M., Rathus T., & Watson, R. J. (in press). Associations between outness and alcohol use among sexual and gender minority adolescents. Behavioral Medicine.

McCurdy, A. L., Renley, B. M., Lavner, J. A., Meslay, G., Watson, R. J., Russell, S. T. (in press). Sexual Minority Youth in Romantic Relationships: Associations with Youth Well-Being. Journal of Research on Adolescence.

Renley, B. M., Simon, K.A., & Watson, R.J. (in press). Schools as heteronormative and cisnormative spaces. In A. Goldberg (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Renley, B. M., Burson, E, Simon, K. A., Caba, A. E., & Watson, R.J. (2022). Youth-specific sexual and gender minority state-level policies: Implications for pronoun, name, and bathroom/locker room use among gender minority youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51, 780-791. doi:10.1007/s10964-022-01582-9

Simon, K. A., Hawthorne, H. M., Clark, A. N., Renley, B. M., Farr, R. H., Eaton, L. A., & Watson, R. J. (2021). Contextualizing the well-being of asexual youth: Evidence of differences in family, health, and school outcomes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01500-5

Watson, R. J., Caba, A. E., Lawrence, S. E., Renley, B. M., McCauley, P., Wheldon, C. W., Eaton, L. A., Russell, S.T., & Eisenberg, M.E. (in press). Examining mental health and bullying concerns at the intersection of sexuality, gender, race, and ethnicity among a national sample of sexual and gender diverse youth. LGBT Health.

Scholarship in Progress:

Burson, E., Renley, B. M., Rathus, T., Simon, K. A., Watson, R. J. (in preparation). The effects of structural stigma on sexual and gender minority youth mental health.

Caba, A. E., Cristophe, K., Simon, K. A., Renley, B. M., Feinstein, B. A., & Watson, R. J. (in preparation). Measurement invariance of the LGBT people of color microaggressions scale in a sample of sexual and gender minority youth.

Csizmadia, A., Renley, B. M., Watson, R. J., (in preparation). Relations between family acceptance and psychological adjustment among biracial LGBTQ youth: A within-group analysis.

Hanna-Walker, V., Caba, A. E., Simon, K. A., Renley B. M., Lefkowitz, E. S., & Watson, R. J. (under review). Identity outness among gender diverse sexual minority youth: A latent profile analysis.

McCauley P., Caba, A. E., Morgan, E., Renley B. M., Eaton, L. A., Watson R. J. (under review). Perceptions of HIV prevention, happiness with social support, and anticipated PrEP stigma among Black and Latine sexual and gender diverse individuals.

McCauley, P. S., Shuler, S., Del Farno, A. J., Caba, A. E., Renley, B. M., Eaton, L. A., Watson, R. J. (under review). Stress of being outed to parents, LGBTQ family support, and depressive symptoms among sexual and gender diverse youth.

Rathus, T., Caba, A. E., Renley, B. M., Simon, K. A., & Watson, R. J. (under review). Exploring SGDY-related school experiences and lifetime substance use among gender diverse youth.

Renley B. M., Eaton L. A., Csizmadia A., Watson R. J. (in preparation). An investigation into disability status and mental health indicators among sexual and gender diverse youth.

Renley, B. M., Salafia, C., Simon, K. A., Caba, A. E., Watson, R. J. (under review). Disability and multimorbidity in gender minority youth: Associations with family social support and identity disclosure.

Renley, B. M., Argenyi, M. S., Mereish, E. H., Watson, R. J. (in preparation). Social and contextual health disparities among sexual and gender minority youth by disability status.

Renley, B. M., Adamsons, K. (in preparation). Anxiety and depression in emerging adults: Exploring identity centrality, disability self-identification, and self-concept.

Salafia, C., Renley, B. M., Simon, K. A., Caba, A. E., Watson, R. J. (in preparation). Within-group disability differences in gender minority youth with disabilities.

Simon, K. A., Caba, A. E., Renley, B. M., Eaton, L. A., & Watson, R. J. (under review). Evidence of differences in gender-affirming school experiences in a diverse sample of transgender youth.

Conference Presentations:

Renley, B. M., Salafia, C., Simon, K. A., Caba, A. E., Argenyi, M. S., Eaton, L., Watson, R. J. (2023, April). Family support, identity disclosure, and stress among gender minority youth living with disabilities. Poster to be presented at the Society for Research on Adolescence, San Diego, CA.

Caba, A. E., Christophe, N. K., Renley, B. M., Simon, K. A., Feinstein, B. A., & Watson, R. J. (2023, April). Measurement invariance of the LGBT People of Color Microaggressions Scale in a sample of sexual and gender minority youth of color. Paper to be presented at the Society for Research on Adolescence, San Diego, CA.

Simon, K. A., Caba, A. E., Renley, B. M., Eaton, L. A., & Watson, R. J. (2023). Evidence of differences in gender-affirming school experiences in a diverse sample of transgender youth. Flash talk paper to be presented at the 2023 Society for Research on Adolescence Annual Conference, San Diego, CA.

Simon, K.A., Ross, C., Rathus, T., Caba, A., Renley, B., Eaton, L. A., & Watson, R. J. (2022, November). “I didn’t have anyone to turn to: Sexual education and behavior among LGBTQ+ youth with adoptive or kinship caregivers. Paper to be presented as part of the “Adoption, Gender, and Sexuality: Shedding Light on Complex Issues in Adoption” Symposium at the 2022 NCFR Annual Conference.

Watson, R.J., Renley, B., & Eaton, L.A. (2022, August). Youth-specific LGBTQ+ state-level policies’ associations with pronoun, name, and bathroom use among gender minority youth in a US national sample. Paper presented at the European Association for Research on Adolescence conference, Dublin, Ireland.

Watson, R.J., Simon, K., Caba, A.E., Renley, B., Eaton, L.A. (2022, May). Gender-Affirming School Experiences among Transgender/Non-binary Youth in the United States. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Child Development Construction of the Other Conference, Puerto Rico, US.

Simon, K. A., Hawthorne, H. M., Clark, A. N., Renley, B. M., Farr, R. H., Eaton, L. A., & Watson, R. J. (2022, March). Contextualizing the well-being of asexual youth: Evidence of differences in family, health, and school outcomes. Individual paper presented as part of a data blitz session at the SRA 2022 Biennial Meeting.

Rathus, T., Caba, A. E., Renley, B. M., Watson, R.J. (2022, March). Exploring school social transition factors and lifetime marijuana use among transgender adolescents. SRA 2022 Biennial Meeting, New Orleans, LA.

Csizmadia, A., Renley, B., & Watson, R.J. (2021, November). LGBTQ identity-based family acceptance and depressive symptoms among biracial LGBTQ adolescents: A within-group approach. Poster presentation at the National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD.

Renley, B. M. (2020, April). Exploring the relationship between identity and clinically diagnosed anxiety and depression [Poster session cancelled]. Frontiers in Undergraduate Research at the University of Connecticut. Storrs, CT.

Assistantship Experience:

Spring 2023 – present, Teaching Assistantship, HDFS 1060 Close Relationships Across the Lifespan

Fall 2021 – present, Research Assistantship, SHINE Lab

Departmental Service:

Fall 2022 – Spring 2023, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee

Spring 2022 – Spring 2023, Council on Family Relations, UConn (president)

Fall 2021 – Spring 2022, HDFS Strategic Planning Committee

Email	ben.renley@uconn.edu
Campus	Storrs