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. 2020 Nov-Dec;49(6):943-956.
doi: 10.1080/15374416.2020.1815207. Epub 2020 Oct 19.

Future Directions in Understanding and Addressing Mental Health among LGBTQ Youth

Jessica N Fish  1
Affiliations

Future Directions in Understanding and Addressing Mental Health among LGBTQ Youth

Jessica N Fish. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2020 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Today's LGBTQ youth come of age at a time of dynamic social and political change with regard to LGBTQ rights and visibility, yet remain vulnerable to compromised mental health. Despite advances in individual-level treatment strategies, school-based programs, and state-level policies that address LGBTQ mental health, there remains a critical gap in large-scale evidence-based prevention and intervention programs designed to support the positive development and mental health of LGBTQ youth. To spur advances in research and translation, I pose six considerations for future scholarship and practice. I begin by framing LGBTQ (mental) health disparities in a life course perspective and discuss how research focused on the timing of events could offer insight into the optimum targets and timing of prevention and intervention strategies. Next, I argue the importance of expanding notions of "mental health" to include perspectives of wellbeing, positive youth development, and resilience. I then consider how research might attend to the complexity of LGBTQ youths' lived experience within and across the various contexts they traverse in their day-to-day lives. Similarly, I discuss the importance of exploring heterogeneity in LGBTQ youth experiences and mental health. I also offer suggestions for how community partnerships may be a key resource for developing and evaluating evidence-informed programs and tools designed to foster the positive development and mental health of LGBTQ youth. Finally, I acknowledge the potentials of team science for advancing research and practice for LGBTQ youth health and wellbeing. Throughout, these future directions center the urgent needs of LGBTQ youth.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The Knowledge to Action Framework. Updated from Graham et al (2006)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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