Abstract
Purpose
The present study tests the hypothesis that there has been a significant increase
in the implementation of six LGBTQ-supportive school practices in US states between
2010 and 2018.
Methods
Data were drawn from the publicly available School Health Profiles reports published
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School
Health. We conducted unadjusted linear regression models separately for each practice
to examine state-specific linear trends in the percentage of secondary schools reportedly
engaging in six LGBTQ-supportive practices across all 50 states. In addition, we conducted
an unadjusted linear regression on the trend to estimate changes in the median percentage
of schools across all states engaging in each of the six practices through time.
Results
In 2010, 5.7% of schools reported implementing all six practices, which increased
to 15.3% in 2018. In the period from 2010 to 2018, the implementation of four of six
key practices increased significantly in more than half of US states. Most states
experienced a mix of either increases in practices or no change in practice prevalence,
with no state experiencing a significant decrease.
Discussion
There have been significant gains in the percentage of schools implementing LGBTQ-supportive
practices. Yet, despite increases in the examined practices, the median percentage
of schools in the United States that implement all six remains low. There is considerable
room to improve on the use of these practices in schools across the United States,
including increased attention to the quality of implementation and the barriers and
facilitators to their instantiation.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Adolescent HealthAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Transgender identity and experiences of violence victimization, substance use, suicide risk, and sexual risk behaviors among high school students - 19 states and large urban school districts, 2017.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019; 68: 67-71
- Youth risk behavior surveillance - United States, 2017.MMWR Surveill Summ. 2018; 67: 1-114
- Substance use among sexual minorities: Has it actually gotten better?.Subst Use Misuse. 2018; 53: 1221-1228
- Smoking behaviours among heterosexual and sexual minority youth? Findings from 15 years of provincially representative data.Drug Alcohol Rev. 2019; 38: 101-110
- Social stress and substance use disparities by sexual orientation among high school students.Am J Prev Med. 2017; 53: 547-558
- Sex and orientation identity matter in the substance use behaviors of sexual minority adolescents in the United States.Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018; 187: 142-148
- Sexual orientation disparities in the use of emerging drugs.Subst Use Misuse. 2017; 52: 265-271
- Eating disorder symptoms and obesity at the intersections of gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in US high school students.Am J Public Health. 2013; 103: e16-e22
- Sexual minority youth and depressive symptoms or depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based studies.Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2017; 51: 774-787
- Physical and sexual teen dating violence victimization and sexual identity among U.S. High school students, 2015.J Interpers Violence. 2020; 35: 3581-3600
- Substance use and disparities in teen dating violence victimization by sexual identity among high school students.Prev Sci. 2020; 21: 398-407
- Suicidal behaviour among sexual-minority youth: A review of the role of acceptance and support.Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2019; 3: 190-198
- Lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents: Population estimate and prevalence of health behaviors.JAMA. 2016; 316: 2355-2356
- Trends in secondary schools' practices to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning students, 2008-2014.Am J Public Health. 2018; 108: 557-564
- School environment is related to lower health and safety risks among sexual minority middle and high school students.J Adolesc Health. 2018; 62: 143-148
- Strengthening our schools to promote resilience and health among LGBTQ youth: Emerging evidence and research priorities from the state of LGBTQ youth health and wellbeing symposium.LGBT Health. 2019; 6: 146-155
- School Health Profiles 2016: Characteristics of health programs among secondary schools.(Available at:)https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/49431Date: 2017
- Implementing school nursing strategies to reduce LGBTQ adolescent suicide: A randomized cluster trial study protocol.Implement Sci. 2016; 11: 145
- PS18-1807 program guidance: Guidance for school-based HIV/STD prevention (component 2) recipients of PS18-1807.(Available at:)
- School health profiles 2010: Characteristics of health programs among secondary schools.2011 (Available at:)https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/profiles/pdf/2010/profiles_report.pdfDate accessed: July 7, 2021
- School health profiles 2018: Characteristics of health programs among secondary schools.(Available at:)https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/profiles/pdf/2018/CDC-Profiles-2018.pdfDate: 2019Date accessed: July 7, 2021
- School health profiles 2012: Characteristics of health programs among secondary schools.2013 (Available at)https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/profiles/2012/profiles_report.pdfDate accessed: July 7, 2021
- School health profiles 2014: Characteristics of health programs among secondary schools.2015 (Available at)https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/profiles/pdf/2014/2014_profiles_report.pdfDate accessed: July 7, 2021
- Adolescent and school health.(Available at:)
- The protective role of gay-straight alliances for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning students: A prospective analysis.Psychol Sex Orientat Gend Divers. 2016; 3: 397-406
- Gay–straight alliances are associated with student health: A multischool comparison of LGBTQ and heterosexual youth.J Res Adolesc. 2013; 23: 319-330
- LGBTQ youth's views on gay-straight alliances: Building community, providing gateways, and representing safety and support.J Sch Health. 2017; 87: 489-497
- GLSEN.(Available at:)https://www.glsen.org/Date accessed: September 1, 2020
- GSA Network.(Available at:)https://gsanetwork.org/Date accessed: September 1, 2020
- Factors impacting implementation of evidence-based strategies to create safe and supportive schools for sexual and gender minority students.J Adolesc Health. 2018; 63: 643-648
- Effectiveness of school district antibullying policies in improving LGBT youths’ school climate.Psychol Sex Orientat Gend Divers. 2016; 3: 407-415
- Inclusive anti-bullying policies and reduced risk of suicide attempts in lesbian and gay youth.J Adolesc Health. 2013; 53: S21-S26
- School avoidance and substance use among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning youths: The impact of peer victimization and adult support.J Educ Psychol. 2012; 104: 381-392
- Social support and mental health in LGBTQ adolescents: A review of the literature.Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2018; 39: 16-29
- Sexuality education including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues in schools.Educ Res Rev. 2017; 22: 215-222
- LGBTQ-inclusive curricula: Why supportive curricula matter.Sex Educ. 2015; 15: 580-596
- About rural health care.(Available at:)https://www.ruralhealthweb.org/about-nrha/about-rural-health-careDate accessed: September 8, 2020
- Sheps Center for Health Services Research.(Available at:)
- Where We Call Home: LGBT people in rural America.(Available at:)
- Enhancing primary care services for diverse sexual and gender minority populations: A developmental study protocol.BMJ Open. 2020; 10: e032787
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 11, 2022
Accepted:
November 23,
2021
Received:
August 23,
2021
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in the manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of either the funding agency or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
