Fish Jessica N
Department of Family Science, School of Public Health, University of Maryland.
J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2020 Nov-Dec;49(6):943-956. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2020.1815207. Epub 2020 Oct 19.
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.
如今的 LGBTQ 青年在 LGBTQ 权利和可见度方面经历着动态社会和政治变革的时代成长起来,但他们的心理健康仍然容易受到损害。尽管在针对 LGBTQ 心理健康的个人层面治疗策略、基于学校的项目和州级政策方面取得了进展,但在旨在支持 LGBTQ 青年积极发展和心理健康的大规模循证预防和干预项目方面仍存在关键差距。为推动研究和转化方面的进展,我提出了未来学术研究和实践的六点思考。我首先从生命历程的角度构建 LGBTQ(心理)健康差异,并讨论专注于事件时机的研究如何能为预防和干预策略的最佳目标及时机提供见解。接下来,我认为扩大“心理健康”概念以纳入幸福、青年积极发展和复原力等观点很重要。然后,我思考研究如何关注 LGBTQ 青年在其日常生活中所经历的各种背景下及跨这些背景的生活经历的复杂性。同样,我讨论探索 LGBTQ 青年经历和心理健康的异质性的重要性。我还就社区伙伴关系如何可能成为开发和评估旨在促进 LGBTQ 青年积极发展和心理健康的循证项目及工具的关键资源提供建议。最后,我认识到团队科学在推进 LGBTQ 青年健康和幸福研究及实践方面的潜力。在整个过程中,这些未来方向都以 LGBTQ 青年的紧迫需求为核心。