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Youth of Color in the United States are often leaders in movements for social justice. Evidence suggests that organizing has a positive macro-therapeutic effect on the mental health of young organizers; however, they can also experience strain and become targets of the very systems they are trying to change. In a community-based participatory action research study, three organizations that train youth of Color in organizing in Brooklyn, New York City held focus groups with youth and adult staff. The focus groups examined the strains experienced by youth organizers and the strategies adult partners use to prepare organizers to maintain hope and well-being. Findings suggest four key emergent strategies: (a) provide an emotional homespace to process the rub between worlds, (b) actively shape the long view on systems change, (c) increase self-care skills and emotional preparation for organizing, and (d) promote healing by building leader(full) communities.

Youth of Color, especially those in households with low income, experience multiple stressors and trauma that affect their well-being. Few studies examine the impact of youth engagement in leadership and organizing to address systemic inequity on their mental health and well-being. In a community-based participatory action research design, three organizations which train youth of Color in organizing in Brooklyn, New York, held four focus groups (n = 43, ages 14-24 years) to examine the impact of organizing on youth mental health and well-being. Key emergent themes of youth organizing include (a) storytelling as therapeutic; (b) group leadership as strengthening personal and collective power, hopefulness, and a sense of protection; and (c) the strain of navigating their hopes and current reality. This study has important implications for actions programs can take who seek to engage youth of Color in organizing in communities and institutions impacted by historical trauma and current day systemic inequity.

School-based sports and physical education play an important role in the development of youth (Jones, Edwards, et al., 2017), but participation in athletics is unequal for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth compared to their straight/cisgender peers [Greenspan, S. B., Griffith, C., & Murtagh, E. F. (2017). LGBTQ youths' school athletic experiences: A 40-year content analysis in nine flagship journals. "Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling," 11(3), 190-200]. Sport cultures, generally, recreate dynamics of exclusion for marginalized youth. However, there are opportunities to transform these spaces into more inclusive and positive environments to support positive growth for all young people [Newman, T., Alvarez, A., & Kim, M. (2017). An experiential approach to sport-based positive youth development. "Journal of Experiential Education," 40(3), 308-322]. Our study uses a data set of adolescents, collected as part of a community-based participatory action research project led by high school students in southeast Michigan, USA. Respondents reported their sexual and gender identities, as well as experiences in youth sport, as well as safety using sex-segregated facilities (i.e., bathrooms and locker-rooms). Using mediation models based on linear regression, we found evidence that LGBQ high school students play sports at a significantly lower rate compared to straight students, and among those who play sports, LGBTQ respondents felt significantly less safe compared to straight and cisgender students. Opposite to the LGBQ and trans youth in this study, straight/cisgender youth also reported feeling safer using all facilities. The mediation models suggest that these inequalities help to explain disparities in rates of sports participation and feelings of safety while participating. These findings have important implications for policy, practice, and future research.

Participation in sport is often assumed to promote the healthy development of youth. However, research suggests that gender and sexuality policing in sports negatively impacts the self-esteem of LGBTQ + youth. Using moderated mediation analyses, findings suggest that hyper-surveillance and policing of sexual and gender norms, specifically masculinity, through the use of anti-LGBTQ + language in sport not only marginalizes LGBTQ + individuals, but can harm all youth. Among straight cisgender youth, the conditional direct effect of playing sports on self-esteem was positive for only girls, across race, indicating a positive moderated mediation for girls. The positive effect of playing sports on self-esteem had a comparatively lower effect for white boys, when mediated by the frequency of hearing anti-LGBTQ + language. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention using theater and dialogue to raise awareness about homophobia and transphobia and increase intentions to participate in macro-level change efforts around lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) issues. Methods: Using a pretest-posttest design, this study examines changes in advocacy intentions around LGBTQQ issues among middle school and high school students who participated in the intervention (n = 515). Results: Students reported a significant increase in intentions to advocate. Existing intervention behaviors and increased recognition of homophobia/transphobia as problems were associated with greater increases in intention to advocate. Respondents with higher existing intervention behaviors, as well as White students and cisgender women, reported higher advocacy intentions compared to students of color and cisgender men. Further, we found indication of greater awareness of homophobia/transphobia as a problem in school. Conclusions: Youth-led theater and dialogue-based interventions may be a promising strategy for addressing heterosexism and genderism in schools.

To explore sociodemographic predictors for concern regarding COVID‐19 transmission and how these factors interact with the identities of others, we conducted a web‐based survey where we asked 568 respondents in the United States to indicate their level of COVID‐19 concern in response to a series of images with short vignettes of masked and unmasked individuals of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. Using a linear mixed effects model, we found that regardless of the race of the image being presented in the vignette, concern regarding COVID‐19 transmission was associated with respondents' older age (b = 0.029, p < 0.001), residing in NYC (b = 0.556, p = 0.009), being heterosexual (b = 1.075, p < 0.001), having higher levels of education, that is, completion of a Bachelor's degree (b = 1.10, p = 0.033) or graduate degree (b = 1.78, p < 0.001), and the person in the vignette being unmasked (b = 0.822, p < 0.001). Asian respondents were more likely than White respondents to be concerned regarding COVID‐19. Individuals who self‐reported themselves to be at high risk for COVID‐19 were more likely to be concerned about COVID‐19 over those who considered themselves to be low risk. These findings highlight the importance of acknowledging interactions between race, mask status, and residency in predicting COVID‐19 concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our cross-sectional study seeks to understand how COVID-19 stigma, race/ethnicity [Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latinx, white] and residency [New York City (NYC) resident vs. non-NYC resident] associated with depression. Our sample includes 568 participants: 260 (45.77%) were NYC residents and 308 (54.3%) were non-NYC residents. A series of multiple linear regression were run to examine the relationship between race/ethnicity, COVID-19 stigma, and depressive symptoms. Irrespective of residency, older age and ever being diagnosed with COVID-19 were negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Stigma and thinking less of oneself significantly associates with depressive symptoms across residency. Our study expects to benefit mental health care providers and public health professionals in designing best practices to mitigate stigma in ongoing or future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth of Color in the United States are often leaders in movements for social justice. Evidence suggests that organizing has a positive macro-therapeutic effect on the mental health of young organizers; however, they can also experience strain and become targets of the very systems they are trying to change. In a community-based participatory action research study, three organizations that train youth of Color in organizing in Brooklyn, New York City held focus groups with youth and adult staff. The focus groups examined the strains experienced by youth organizers and the strategies adult partners use to prepare organizers to maintain hope and well-being. Findings suggest four key emergent strategies: (a) provide an emotional homespace to process the rub between worlds, (b) actively shape the long view on systems change, (c) increase self-care skills and emotional preparation for organizing, and (d) promote healing by building leader(full) communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the call for social work professionals to develop their Disability cultural competence with priorities on inclusion and antiableism as of January 2023. Topics covered include social work's alignment with the intersectional Disability Justice movement, ableism integration with social work education, and four steps to realize antiableism. Also noted are the steps of ableism recognition, generation of relevant data, supporting leadership, and promoting partnerships.

This study examined predictors to mask mandate support and racial justice protest participation across Asian (n = 103), Black (n = 102), white (n = 102) New York City residents, using binary logistic regressions. Participants with positive feelings about the racial justice movement were more likely to participate in the protests. White and Asian respondents were more likely to support the mask mandates over Black respondents. Asian respondents were less likely to participate in public protests over white respondents. Our findings offer a model for social workers to understand how race, political participation and COVID-19 intersect to create racially just responses to health and justice matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth of Color, especially those in households with low income, experience multiple stressors and trauma that affect their well-being. Few studies examine the impact of youth engagement in leadership and organizing to address systemic inequity on their mental health and well-being. In a community-based participatory action research design, three organizations which train youth of Color in organizing in Brooklyn, New York, held four focus groups (n = 43, ages 14-24 years) to examine the impact of organizing on youth mental health and well-being. Key emergent themes of youth organizing include (a) storytelling as therapeutic; (b) group leadership as strengthening personal and collective power, hopefulness, and a sense of protection; and (c) the strain of navigating their hopes and current reality. This study has important implications for actions programs can take who seek to engage youth of Color in organizing in communities and institutions impacted by historical trauma and current day systemic inequity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School-based sports and physical education play an important role in the development of youth (Jones, Edwards, et al., 2017), but participation in athletics is unequal for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth compared to their straight/cisgender peers [Greenspan, S. B., Griffith, C., & Murtagh, E. F. (2017). LGBTQ youths' school athletic experiences: A 40-year content analysis in nine flagship journals. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 11(3), 190–200]. Sport cultures, generally, recreate dynamics of exclusion for marginalized youth. However, there are opportunities to transform these spaces into more inclusive and positive environments to support positive growth for all young people [Newman, T., Alvarez, A., & Kim, M. (2017). An experiential approach to sport-based positive youth development. Journal of Experiential Education, 40(3), 308–322]. Our study uses a data set of adolescents, collected as part of a community-based participatory action research project led by high school students in southeast Michigan, USA. Respondents reported their sexual and gender identities, as well as experiences in youth sport, as well as safety using sex-segregated facilities (i.e., bathrooms and locker-rooms). Using mediation models based on linear regression, we found evidence that LGBQ high school students play sports at a significantly lower rate compared to straight students, and among those who play sports, LGBTQ respondents felt significantly less safe compared to straight and cisgender students. Opposite to the LGBQ and trans youth in this study, straight/cisgender youth also reported feeling safer using all facilities. The mediation models suggest that these inequalities help to explain disparities in rates of sports participation and feelings of safety while participating. These findings have important implications for policy, practice, and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Due to the focus of micro-practice interventions on clinical outcomes and macro-practice interventions on structural outcomes, limited research exists on the clinical benefits resulting from clients’ involvement in macro therapeutic interventions (i.e. structural interventions that target community, organizational, systems, and/or policy-level change and which also have clinical benefits to clients or consumers). In response to this knowledge gap, the authors present four case studies of macro therapeutic interventions in the areas of social enterprise creation, community-based participatory research, transformative organizing, and community-based partnerships. Findings Collectively, these interventions draw from community, economic, and social development theory, empowerment theory, feminist theory, and critical theory. The authors synthesize the key intervention components across case studies that contribute to clinical and collective empowerment outcomes. Applications The authors then offer recommendations to the social work profession for developing, implementing, and evaluating macro therapeutic interventions within clinical practice settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LGBTQ people experience health disparities related to multilevel processes of sexual and gender marginalization, and intersections with racism can compound these challenges for LGBTQ people of color. Although community engagement may be protective for mental health broadly and for LGBTQ communities in buffering against heterosexism, little research has been conducted on the racialized dynamics of these processes among LGBTQ communities. This study analyzes cross-sectional survey data collected among a diverse sample of LGBTQ college students (n = 460), which was split by racial status. Linear regression models were used to test main effects of interpersonal heterosexism and engagement with campus organizations on depression, as well as moderating effects of campus engagement. For White LGBTQ students, engaging in student leadership appears to weaken the heterosexism–depression link—specifically, the experience of interpersonal microaggressions. For LGBTQ students of color, engaging in LGBTQ-specific spaces can strengthen the association between sexual orientation victimization and depression. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: This study evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention using theater and dialogue to raise awareness about homophobia and transphobia and increase intentions to participate in macro-level change efforts around lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) issues. Methods: Using a pretest–posttest design, this study examines changes in advocacy intentions around LGBTQQ issues among middle school and high school students who participated in the intervention (n = 515). Results: Students reported a significant increase in intentions to advocate. Existing intervention behaviors and increased recognition of homophobia/transphobia as problems were associated with greater increases in intention to advocate. Respondents with higher existing intervention behaviors, as well as White students and cisgender women, reported higher advocacy intentions compared to students of color and cisgender men. Further, we found indication of greater awareness of homophobia/transphobia as a problem in school. Conclusions: Youth-led theater and dialogue-based interventions may be a promising strategy for addressing heterosexism and genderism in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth experience oppression in their schools and communities, which creates barriers to their healthy development. Emerging research documents strategies to support LGBTQQ youth, but little is known about developing LGBTQQ youth empowerment. This study extracts qualitative data (key informant interviews, n = 8, and a focus group, n = 8) from a larger case study of an LGBTQQ youth organization that uses theater within a transformative organizing model to make their schools safer and more inclusive. Findings suggest that theater-both theater games used within the group and scripted performances for adult stakeholders-uniquely contributed to developing individual and collective empowerment through an iterative process of building community, cultivating critical consciousness, and providing opportunities to effect change. Encouraging creative expression alongside developing LGBTQQ youth's capacity to create change can contribute to the positive development of LGBTQQ youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has documented the importance of empowering lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth and creating LGBTQQ-focused institutional changes in schools. However, little is known about youth-centered strategies in creating such institutional changes. This study examines how participatory action research (PAR) and theater can effect change among adult powerholders in schools and contribute to LGBTQQ-youth-centered changes in schools. Findings suggest a mutually reinforcing relationship between PAR and theater in elevating youth voices and motivating adults to work toward individual and institutional change that is responsive to LGBTQQ students’ needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]