Poteat V Paul, Scheer Jillian R, Marx Robert A, Calzo Jerel P, Yoshikawa Hirokazu
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA,
Am J Community Psychol. 2015 Jun;55(3-4):422-32. doi: 10.1007/s10464-015-9722-2.
Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are school-based youth settings that could promote health. Yet, GSAs have been treated as homogenous without attention to variability in how they operate or to how youth are involved in different capacities. Using a systems perspective, we considered two primary dimensions along which GSAs function to promote health: providing socializing and advocacy opportunities. Among 448 students in 48 GSAs who attended six regional conferences in Massachusetts (59.8 % LGBQ; 69.9 % White; 70.1 % cisgender female), we found substantial variation among GSAs and youth in levels of socializing and advocacy. GSAs were more distinct from one another on advocacy than socializing. Using multilevel modeling, we identified group and individual factors accounting for this variability. In the socializing model, youth and GSAs that did more socializing activities did more advocacy. In the advocacy model, youth who were more actively engaged in the GSA as well as GSAs whose youth collectively perceived greater school hostility and reported greater social justice efficacy did more advocacy. Findings suggest potential reasons why GSAs vary in how they function in ways ranging from internal provisions of support, to visibility raising, to collective social change. The findings are further relevant for settings supporting youth from other marginalized backgrounds and that include advocacy in their mission.
同性恋异性恋联盟（GSAs）是学校里的青少年组织，可能对健康有益。然而，人们一直将同性恋异性恋联盟视为同质化的组织，而没有关注其运作方式的差异，也没有关注青少年以不同身份参与其中的情况。从系统的角度出发，我们考虑了同性恋异性恋联盟促进健康的两个主要方面：提供社交和倡导机会。在参加马萨诸塞州六次地区会议的48个同性恋异性恋联盟中的448名学生中（59.8%为性少数群体；69.9%为白人；70.1%为顺性别女性），我们发现同性恋异性恋联盟和青少年在社交和倡导水平上存在很大差异。同性恋异性恋联盟在倡导方面比在社交方面彼此差异更大。通过多层次建模，我们确定了导致这种差异的群体和个体因素。在社交模式中，参与更多社交活动的青少年和同性恋异性恋联盟开展了更多倡导活动。在倡导模式中，更积极参与同性恋异性恋联盟的青少年，以及其青少年集体感受到更大学校敌意并报告具有更高社会正义效能的同性恋异性恋联盟，开展了更多倡导活动。研究结果表明了同性恋异性恋联盟在功能方面存在差异的潜在原因，这些差异体现在从内部提供支持到提高知名度，再到集体社会变革等方面。这些发现对于支持其他边缘化背景青少年且在其使命中包含倡导内容的组织也具有进一步的参考价值。
