Disparities between the substance use rates of sexual or gender minority (SGM) youth and the rates of youth identifying as heterosexual (i.e., attracted to the opposite sex) and cisgender (i.e., gender identity corresponds to birth sex) have given rise to calls for 1) research to understand the specific risk and protective factors relating to substance use in SGM youth and 2) the development of corresponding intervention programming In three papers, this dissertation explores predictors for substance use among SGM youth and describes methods of targeted recruitment for a prevention intervention program tailored to SGM youth. In the first paper, comparing the contributing factors of substance use between sexual minority and heterosexual youth revealed that although many predictors were associated with use in both groups, sadness, suicidal ideation, difficulty concentrating, and forced sexual encounters were the most consistent and substantial contributors to the explanation of the difference in use rates between groups. In the second paper, risk and protective factors identified from social learning theory and minority stress theory, including perceived stress, problem-solving skills, self-esteem, self-efficacy, substance refusal skills, and peer use of substance, were generally associated with past-month substance use. Peer use of substance and substance refusal skills, in particular, were consistently and robustly associated with substance use in the sample of SGM youth, and their intersection provides insight into themes to address in future intervention development. Issues of disclosure and parental permission have made recruiting representative samples of SGM youth challenging, and the third paper offers insight into an inexpensive and time-efficient means of recruiting SGM youth for participation in such research. The specificity with which Facebook ads can be targeted to hard-to-reach populations makes it a preferred tool for researchers who seek to recruit SGM youth. Taken together, the three papers of this dissertation can serve as a guide for the development and execution of substance use prevention research that is tailored to the specific needs of SGM youth.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Family acceptance is life-saving for transgender and gender expansive youth (TGEY) and is predictive of TGEY mental health (Olson, Durwood, DeMeules, & McLaughlin, 2016; Olson- Kennedy et al., 2016; Pariseau et al., 2019; Ryan, Huebner, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2009). Family related factors such as stress, minority stress factors, lack of knowledge, isolation, and gendered expectations may make it difficult for parents to support TGEY. Multifamily group services (MFGs) target parental behaviors, attitudes, and parental minority stress to increase family acceptance of TGEY (Malpas, Glaeser, & Giammattei, 2018). MFGs have yet to be quantitatively evaluated for their impact on parental behavior and attitude change and parental minority stress. Using a real-world effectiveness approach, this study proposed to expand the field by examining the relationship of MFGs on parental behavior and attitude change and parental minority stress over time. It was hypothesized that parents would increase their affirmative attitudes and behavior over time and that parental minority stress would decrease over time as based on MFG attendance. It was also hypothesized that parental attitudes and behaviors would predict parental minority stress toward TGEY after attending MFGs. Results suggest that hypotheses were partially supported as mothers increased affirmative behavior and attitudes throughout the intervention period, but fathers did not. For all caregivers, parental minority stress factors were predicted by affirmative behaviors and attitudes. Conclusions and implications are discussed.

No description available.

Adolescence is a challenging life period in which young people have to deal with both physical and mental changes. For gay, bisexual and questioning (BGQ) youth, the challenges in their adolescents could be tougher. Previous research has demonstrated the unique psychosocial and sexual health needs of this vulnerable sub-group of the youth population. However, most of these studies were conducted in the West. Local data has been far from enough for us to understand the lives and health needs of Hong Kong GBQ youth, who have been affected by a different set of cultural values and social situations. This study adopted a qualitative approach to explore the lives of and the factors affecting the health of GBQ youth in Hong Kong. Both focus groups and individual interviews were used. Data analysis was guided by the principle of grounded theory. Twenty sexual minority male youth aged between 15 and 21 were recruited in the study. It appeared that the discovery of sexual identities for Hong Kong GBQ youth usually began in the early adolescence and was usually followed by a stage of struggle and denial of same-sex attraction. Traditional Chinese family values and mainstream Christianity doctrine heavily influenced on the informants’ and others’ acceptance towards homosexuality. GBQ youth also encountered different forms of prejudicial events in practically all social situations which in turn affected their psychosocial wellbeing and sexual health. Furthermore, parents, school professionals and healthcare workers seemed to lack appropriate skills and attitudes to promote GBQ youth’s health. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 90).

This study is based on a content analysis of two primary sources: 1) literature published on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth in professional journals for school providers (school counselors, nurses, psychologists and social workers) over more than a 30-year period; and 2) materials developed for school providers on LGBT youth by states with laws, regulations and professional policies related to sexual orientation and/or gender identity in schools. Fifteen professional journals were identified that serve as primary and secondary journals for school providers. A total of 41 articles were published in these journals on LGBT youth between 1937 and 2005. Journal articles were coded by the investigator and a second coder, with an inter-rater reliability rate of .97. Most articles focused on identity development, and a majority provided information on developing a supportive school environment for LGB youth. Few focused on issues of salience for contemporary generations of LGBT adolescents, such as resiliency and strength or positive youth development. Only one article focused on youth of color, one on lesbian youth and none on transgender youth. Less than one-third included HIV/AIDS, only 7% mentioned HIV counseling and testing, and 2% mentioned lesbians' risk for STDs. Nearly three-fourths of articles (71%) focused on interventions with LGB youth (few included transgender youth), including the need to promote a safe school environment. Few empirical articles (19.5%), a handful of training articles (7.3%) no theoretical and very few review articles (2.2%) were published during this period. Although nearly one-third of the states had adopted laws, regulations or professional standards to prohibit discrimination of students on the basis of sexual orientation (and 4 included gender identity), no states other than Massachusetts had developed training materials for school providers on LGBT youth. However, Massachusetts' materials were never used since their program was defunded in 2002. Several states made training on LGBT adolescents available to school providers through professional and community organizations. Coupled with limited and outdated content in professional journals, school providers lack access to current multidisciplinary research, theoretical literature and information reviews needed to inform their work with LGBT students and their families.

Social justice within education increasingly has been emphasized over the past decade (Kraft, 2007; Oakes et al., 2000; Riester et al., 2002). Little is known about the demographic trends and the advocacy experiences of school-based social justice advocates such as Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) advisors despite the established importance of teachers engaging in social justice advocacy within schools. Data were collected from a national sample (N = 262) of GSA advisors to further the understanding of the demographic characteristics and the experiences of these social justice advocates and to investigate the relationships between these variables. An ethnographic survey (Schensul, Schensul, & LeCompte, 1999) was utilized for data collection in which the language and experiences reported by GSA advisors (Graybill et al., 2009; Watson et al., 2010) were incorporated. Using an ecological model established in a previous study with GSA advisors (Watson et al., 2010), the individual-, school-, and sociocultural-level characteristics that affect advisors were examined. The results suggested that this sample of GSA advisors was a demographically homogenous group with 67.3% female, 85.7% White, 72.2% who voted Democrat, and 77.1% who were educated at the Master‟s level or higher. Exploratory factor analysis identified two dimensions (i.e., Barriers, Facilitators) by which the advisors appeared to define their experiences when advocating for LGBT youth. Hierarchical regression analyses suggested that at the individual level, experiencing negative personal and professional consequences to advocating and thelevel of self-perceived preparedness to advocate based on prior training contributed to the variability in the advisors‟ experiences with social justice advocacy. At the sociocultural level, advisors in rural schools reported more barriers and fewer facilitators to advocating. Overall, all seven predictors entered, including those at the individual (i.e., experiencing negative personal or professional consequences to advocating, level of self-perceived preparedness to advocate), school (i.e., school resources, school size), and sociocultural levels (i.e., region of the country, community type), accounted for 33.0% (p < .05) of the variance in the Barriers and 10.6% (p < .05) of the variance in the Facilitators to advocating for LGBT youth in schools.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-69).

[pt] Este trabalho tem origem no meu interesse por um tema ainda subdiscutido: a presença reduzida de pessoas transgêneros na trajetória escolar. O foco são os jovens transgêneros no contexto escolar, pertencentes a diversos grupos sociais, visando reconhecer as suas narrativas e enfatizar as suas vozes e experiências ao longo das trajetórias escolares. A pouca discussão em torno desse grupo específico tem sido uma motivação central para minha dedicação a estudos e pesquisas relacionados ao tema. A presente dissertação de mestrado busca, como objetivo central, compreender as experiências de jovens transgêneros em suas trajetórias escolares na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, suas experiências cotidianas, perspectivas, preconceitos e estereótipos vivenciados por esses jovens na escola, como a falta de apoio e as barreiras ao aprendizado. O projeto desdobra-se em três objetivos específicos: (1) Analisar as trajetórias escolares dos jovens transgêneros, destacando aspectos relacionados à permanência ou evasão escolar e os motivos subjacentes a essas decisões; (2) Verificar como a questão da transidentidade no contexto juvenil é tratada nas leis e nas políticas públicas, por meio de uma revisão documental da literatura, com especial foco na cidade do Rio de Janeiro; (3) Realizar entrevistas individuais em profundidade com jovens transgêneros, na faixa etária entre 18 e 29 anos, especialmente em relação às suas experiências escolares. Esta pesquisa, de natureza qualitativa e exploratória, permitiu que esses jovens compartilhassem suas narrativas e reflexões sobre suas vivências transgênero, em particular sobre a sua jornada no âmbito escolar e nos possibilitou, desta forma, contribuir para o debate sobre o tema. / [en] This research emerges from my fascination with a rarely explored subject: the limited representation of transgender individuals within educational institutions. Our focus centers on transgender adolescents within the educational setting, hailing from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. Our primary goal is to cultivate a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon, recognizing these individuals as pivotal agents, placing a strong emphasis on their narratives and encountersthroughout their educational journeys. The paucity of discourse surrounding this particular cohort has profoundly driven my commitment to scholarly investigations relating to this domain. This master s dissertation strives, as its principal aspiration,to decipher the experiences of transgender young individuals during their educational odysseys in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to unraveling their outlooks and navigating the hurdles they encounter. In this endeavor, we delve into the quotidian experiences, biases, and stereotypes encountered by these youngindividuals in educational establishments, encompassing elements such as the scarcity of support and the impediments to acquiring knowledge. The project unfolds through three specific aims: (1) Scrutinize the educational passages of transgender adolescents, highlighting facetslinked to retention or attrition and the underlying rationales governing such choices; (2) Probe into how the issue of gender identity among young individuals is addressed within the legal framework and public policies, via a meticulous review of the academic literature, with a distinct concentration on the city of Rio de Janeiro; (3) Undertake comprehensive one-on-one interviews with transgender young individuals, aged between 18 and 29, with particular emphasis on their educational experiences. This qualitative and exploratory exploration provides a platform for these young individuals to convey their personal narratives and contemplations regarding their transgender journey,especially within the framework of their educational expedition. Educational institutions should wield a consequential role in sculpting and nurturing these young individuals since theyinvest a substantial chunk of their existence therein. Thus, our ultimate aspiration isto acquire a more all-encompassing comprehension of the educational trajectories of transgender young individuals, thereby contributing to the body of knowledge concerning the perspectives of these individuals in the context of educational environments.