How Educators Can Support Gender Diverse Youth

The evidence thus far supports the protective association of having higher same-race/ethnic group density for all students, with the exception of one study (Atkin, 2018). The study found that overall the internalization of the model minority stereotype was more often supported among Asian American students in predominantly non-Asian schools compared to majority-Asian schools net of household socioeconomic status. Collectively, this set of studies support the ethnic density hypothesis, which implies better mental health outcomes for racial/ethnic minority groups in contexts with higher representation of these groups. These results suggest that schools with larger racial/ethnic minority enrollment protects against identification of ED for Black and Hispanic boys, but these protections do not extend to American Indian students.

Educator intervention and LGBTQ related curriculum also constitute prevention strategies of inclusive schools. These policies include antidiscrimination policies (Woodford et al., 2018) and anti-homophobic bullying policies (Konishi et al., 2013). The risk of suicidal behaviors among LGBTQ adolescents is influenced by a number of contextual factors including schools. The interaction between a person and his or her environment affects personal growth and development according to the social ecological model.

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Further, due to the disparities among LGBTQ students, a ‘one size fits all’ approach to school policy might not fit all LGBTQ students. Around the world, the importance of an inclusive school climate to LGBTQ student has been suggested and advocated for reducing the risk of violence and discrimination and enhancing their psychological wellbeing. All these strategies have shown the importance of structural initiatives on campus in protecting LGBTQ students from discrimination (Woodford et al., 2018).

Current State of Campus Mental Health

• Our findings offer a basis for understanding the mental health needs of diverse undergraduate students by providing an opportunity to identify not only those with high mental health literacy, but also those with low mental health literacy.
• Effective delivery of these services is essential to ensure that international students receive the necessary support they need to thrive in a new academic and cultural environment (Minutillo et al., 2020).
• Durso and Gates (2012) released the findings of a nationwide internet study in the United States and discovered that nearly 68% of their LGBT homeless clients had encountered family abandonment and over 54% had encountered domestic violence.
• This research was supported by the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge, a campus-wide initiative that aims to reduce the burden of depression through interdisciplinary research and innovative treatment approaches.

Importantly, our findings identified not only the high performers, but also the low performers, for whom an increase in knowledge and awareness of mental health is crucial to overall psychological well-being. In addition, high performers were more likely to have been diagnosed and/or treated for a psychological disorder, have more experience with psychological disorders through personal, family, or peer history, and have families who are open to discussing mental health issues. These participants were more likely to report being white, female, between the ages of 28–32, and in the fourth year or later of their undergraduate program.

How is a reader to construct the cultural background of the local students in contrast to the international students? No information was provided on cultural demographics of student participants which might have offered some insight into how cultural diversity and unique needs and backgrounds was constituted in this study. Is it an evaluative case study of the ways in which inclusive mental health services are provided at the site? There is a conceptual conflict between a recognition https://www.umaryland.edu/counseling/self-help-resources/student-parents-or-pregnant/ of diversity of cultural background and unique challenges related to the cultural identity of international students. This will not only benefit international students but also contribute to the development of a more diverse and inclusive higher education system. Second, the study discovered and focused on a specific set of delivery components, potentially overlooking other relevant factors that influence the effectiveness of counseling services, such as institutional policies, societal attitudes toward mental health and broader cultural influences.

If you provided a staff member that would, or should, or could be eligible or available to be a part of something else in the school to where the kids don’t see, oh, if you’re going to this person, you got a problem. Overall, those who contributed to this theme encouraged the research team to consider social media-related stressors and digital literacy when adapting the program. One teacher explained, “They have a lot of influences that are not true influences, but that’s what they lean toward.” There was concern that this problem also extended to teens’ understanding of mental health. School administrators and teachers also described teens’ susceptibility to misinformation and misguidance on social media platforms. conducted a quasi-experimental pre-post study in Germany with students aged 14–17. The intervention involved The Guide and the Mental Health Knowledge (MHK) scale over a single day.|And then, the ‘young people of color’ piece is really important because young people of color historically have used mental health services less. So why was it so important for The Steve Fund to work with students of color? Now, you all, from the very beginning, have focused on addressing the mental and emotional well being of students of color. Through her work with Letters 2 Strangers, she’s equipped a wave of Gen-Z students with the tools and resources to better navigate their next steps, such as starting a first job. — but also intersections of mental health with your racial, cultural, socioeconomic, disability, religious, LGBTQ+ identity background, all of these different things. And while there’s already a lack of counselors for students of color, it’s even more difficult to find the right fit.|These findings correspond to a study which found that students in the faculty of management and finance, which included accounting and business, had one of the lowest mental health literacy scores compared to all other majors investigated . The few studies that have investigated college major have focused on general domains of study or a limited number of majors, preventing the identification of specific majors with lower mental health literacy. Academic research on this topic has suggested ways to promote good mental health in college students with a focus on decreasing stigma and increasing help-seeking behaviors by promoting an atmosphere of positive mental health, as well as increasing awareness, education, and resources 12, 13. But even more so, because most mental health issues typically develop by the mid-twenties , college students are especially at risk for the development of mental health challenges and an escalation of these disorders in the face of pre-existing issues.|In particular, low self-esteem/negative self-reference (Burke et al., 2016; Soto-Sanz et al., 2019), loneliness (Gallagher et al., 2014; Zygo et al., 2019), relational conflicts (Randell et al., 2006; Zygo et al., 2019), and mood/anxiety disorders (Séguin et al., 2011) have been linked to suicide thoughts and behaviors among youth. In the United States, suicide deaths among individuals aged 5–18 years increased nearly 70% from 2001 to 2018 (“Web-based Fatal Injury Data Visualization Tool”). Engaging them as equal partners in improving mental health on campus can make all the difference.}

Additionally, students living with mental health issues have protected rights to privacy. Students with mental health illnesses must be given every opportunity and right that students without such conditions are given. Drinking and partying has its place during college, and is part of the larger social experience of going to school, but in some cases, it can become an issue. Many students try to cope with anxiety on their own, sometimes by relying on alcohol or other substances. Just about every college student will experience some form of anxiety at some point during their time at university.