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‘Coming out’ has been described as the process through which individuals come to recognise their non-heterosexual or alternate gender identities and subsequently share those identities with others through, “an unambiguous and public declaration” (Jagose, 1996). It represents an internal – almost existential – acceptance of self that requires the individual to redefine the ‘self’ and, for others, their relationship to that ‘self’ (Hill, 2009; Troiden, 1989). It has also been described as a process of identity-centred development, emphasising self-recognition and an internal sense of identity rather one based specifically on sexual acts (Dubé, 2000). ‘Coming out’ is not, as we will see, “a static action, but a range of various motivations, goals, and strategies that people wrap up in a single term, a catch-all for this complex identity management system” (Orne, 2011, p. 699). In this chapter we explore the intricacies of ‘coming out’ and its role in relation to mental health and well-being. We propose a model to better reflect the varied relevance of ‘coming out’ for some today. In line with other chapters in the book, we focus primarily upon LGB populations but acknowledge that there are commonalities in experience for those who are trans, queer, intersex or, indeed asexual.

This report contributes to the Scottish Council of Deans of Education project related to the Scottish Attainment Challenge. It presents a literature review that responds to the third research question of the SCDE collaborative project: What other practice or research might assist us in our purpose? The purpose of this phase was to resource professional conversations and thinking in the teacher education sector, and to inform the final trial phase of the project.\ud A literature search was undertaken using a range of strategies, to identify published accounts of innovative work from beyond Scotland in the following fields: initial teacher education for high poverty settings; pedagogies in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing; mentoring and induction. Each group of studies is summarised under themes with their potential for the SAC, ITE programmes and professional learning noted.

Background: Education Scotland’s (2018) framework for interventions for equity supporting the Scottish Attainment Challenge highlights the promotion of high quality learning and the effective use of evidence and data. This study protocol outlines the methodology of a systematic review of the literature into the use of interleaving to facilitate the effective learning and teaching of new concepts. Methods: The systematic review has been pre-registered with PROSPERO, an international database of prospectively registered systematic reviews. The review will investigate whether presenting examples of to-be-learned concepts in an interleaved order is a more effective learning strategy than presenting examples blocked by topic, in terms of learners' ability to remember examples and to transfer learning to novel examples. Discussion: Interleaving is widely recommended as an evidence-based approach to teaching with considerable potential as a strategy for learners experiencing difficulties in working memory functioning and conceptual learning, but to date there has not been a comprehensive review of the evidence base. The review will address this gap. It will synthesize primary research studies from the past decade, investigate boundary conditions and variables that interact with interleaving, and will include a meta-analysis of recent studies. This protocol provides the details of the rationale of the review, and details the inclusion criteria and approaches to data extraction.

Research in the field of developmental psychopathology has suggested that the effects of trauma experienced in childhood and/or adolescence can remain with an individual for a number of years. This thesis reports on a three year study focusing upon the experiences of bullying at school for a non-probability sample of lesbians, gay men and bisexual men and women, and explores the psycho-social and long-term implications such events have for their development. Data collection consisted of four elements: a survey of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered adults’ experiences of bullying at school (N = 190); an assessment of the reliability and stability of participants’ memories (N= 60); a study of their life-experiences post school (including measures of bullying in adulthood, negative affect, relationship status and post traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]; N = 119); and a series of in-depth interviews (N= 16). The results suggested that participants’ experiences of bullying at school were both regular and long-term (mean: 5 years), with name-calling and ridicule being the most frequently cited forms of abuse. Over 50% reported contemplating self-harming behaviour or suicide as a result of bullying at school, with 40% making one or more attempts. As adults, they were found to exhibit indices of depression and anxiety when compared to samples of heterosexuals or lesbians, gay men and bisexual men and women not bullied at school. In addition, 17% were found to meet the criteria for the diagnosis of PTSD. However, for the majority of participants, there was little evidence of low self-esteem in adulthood, or discomfort with being lesbian, gay or bisexual. Similarly, in terms of insecurity within relationships, while participants expressed concerns about the nature of their relationships with significant others, there was no evidence to suggest that their fears had become realities. The results also suggested that social support mechanisms and personal resilience played a valuable role in mitigating against potential long-term effects. The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to current literature in the field.