Pediatric Residents' Beliefs and Behaviors About Health Care for Sexual and Gender Minority Youth

Abstract

Little is known about provider beliefs related to sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth, and how these have changed over time. Our objective was to compare pediatric residents' beliefs and behaviors about SGM youth to historical data. Forty-eight of 76 (63%) residents completed a survey of items drawn from 2 existing scales. Results were compared with historical data from 1998 to 2012. Compared to historical respondents, residents indicated that they were significantly more likely to take a sexual history from patients under 14 years old and ask about sexual orientation. Residents were significantly less likely to fear offending parents or patients with such discussions. While responses indicated SGM-affirming beliefs, 45% of residents felt they may not know enough about SGM needs to have effective discussions, similar to historical respondents. Ongoing challenges include a perceived lack of knowledge about the needs of SGM youth, representing avenues for future educational intervention.

Keywords: LGBTQ; beliefs; disparities; sexual and gender minority; sexual orientation.