Perceptions of LGBQ+ youth and experts of suicide prevention video messages targeting LGBQ+ youth: qualitative study

A Systematic Review of the Impacts of Media Mental Health Awareness Campaigns on Young People

Mental health issues are prevalent among young people. An estimated 10% of children and adolescents worldwide experience a mental disorder, yet most do not seek or receive care. Media mental health awareness campaigns, defined as marketing efforts to raise awareness of mental health issues through mass media, are an effort to address this concern. While previous research has evaluated the outcomes of specific media mental health awareness campaigns, there is limited data synthesizing their overall effects. This study addresses the knowledge gap by reviewing the existing literature on the impact of media mental health awareness campaigns on young people. A search was conducted on MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for studies published between 2004 and 2022 with results specific to people aged 10 to 24. Out of 20,902 total studies identified and screened, 18 studies were included in the review. The following data were extracted from each study: characteristics and descriptions of the campaign, evaluation design and sampling, and summary of impact. The review identified evaluations of 15 campaigns from eight different countries. Outcome evaluation methods commonly comprised of surveys and quantitative data. The campaigns were generally associated with positive changes in the attitudes, beliefs, and intentions of young people (e.g., reduced stigma) and positive changes in behaviors (e.g., increased help-seeking behaviors). The inclusion of few studies in the review indicates a need for ongoing evaluations of media mental health awareness campaigns for young people to inform good practices in their development and distribution.

[Mental health of sexual and gender minority youth in Austria: scoping review and research agenda based on international evidence]

A robust body of international evidence documents that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other youth with diverse sexual orientations and/or gender identities (i.e., sexual and gender minority youth) face unique mental health vulnerabilities but are also equipped with unique resources. However, it is unclear to what extent these findings are applicable to sexual and gender minority youth in Austria, because the sociolegal and developmental contexts differ across countries. According to PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic scoping review (1) to identify published studies on the mental health of sexual and gender minority youth in Austria, and, based on this, (2) to derive research recommendations supplemented by international evidence. We searched five scientific databases (PsycInfo, PSYNDEX, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science; March 2022) and additionally contacted researchers and community leaders to find pertinent studies. Only two published empirical studies on the mental health of sexual and gender minority youth in Austria could be located, reflecting the sparse state of research in Austria. Against this background, we outline a detailed research agenda following a socio-ecological approach. Including sexual orientation and non-binary gender identities in population-based studies to assess onset, prevalence, and trajectory of mental health burdens, as well as conducting targeted, resource-based, and developmentally sensitive research on all levels seem paramount to reduce health disparities and societal stigma and to support sexual and gender minority youth in their development.

Effects of "It Gets Better" Suicide Prevention Videos on Youth Identifying as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, or Other Sexual or Gender Minorities: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Purpose:

The “It Gets Better” project (IGBP) features video narratives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer persons or persons with other sexual or gender minority identities (LGBTQ+) of overcoming coming-out-related difficulties. This is the first experimental study investigating effects of these videos.

Methods:

We conducted a double-blind randomized controlled trial on-site in Austria and online in German-language settings from January to November 2020 with LGBTQ+ youth (14–22 years; n = 483), randomized to an IGBP (n = 242) or control video (n = 241). Suicidal ideation (primary outcome), help-seeking intentions, hopelessness, mood, and sexual identity were assessed at baseline (T₁), postexposure (T₂), and 4-week follow-up (T₃). We assessed differences among gender identities, sexual orientations, with regard to depressive symptoms, and the role of identification. Data were analyzed with linear mixed models and mediation analysis.

Results:

There was no overall effect on suicidal ideation, but nonbinary/transgender individuals experienced a small-sized improvement (T₂: mean change [MC] from baseline MC = −0.06 [95% confidence interval {CI} −0.16 to 0.05], p = 0.60; mean difference [MD] to controls MD = −0.42 [95% CI −0.79 to −0.06], p = 0.02, d = −0.10). An indirect preventive effect on suicidal ideation at T2 through the degree of identification with the protagonist in the video was observed. There was improvement in help-seeking intentions in the intervention group (T₂: MC = 0.25 [95% CI 0.15 to 0.35], p < 0.001; MD = 0.28 [95% CI 0.01 to 0.54], p < 0.05, d = 0.09).

Conclusion:

Video narratives featuring coping might have some potential to decrease suicidal ideation and encourage help-seeking among vulnerable youth identifying with videos, but effects are small and short-lived.

Study Registration:

German Clinical Trial Registry (DRKS00019913).

The ethics of facing the Other in suicide

Despite a plethora of existing literature on the topic of suicide, very little attention has been given to research ethics in practice in research on suicide. When suicide research does pay attention to the ethical issues researchers are likely to face, the focus is on the roles institutional human ethics review committees fulfil to ensure ethical conduct in all stages of research. In response to this problem, this article focuses on the philosophical relationship between qualitative methodology and research ethics in the context of researching queer youth suicide. In so doing, I draw on my experiences of interviewing gender-and sexually diverse young people about their familiarity with suicide. These experiences are based on a qualitative pilot study I conducted on queer youth suicide, which used the unstructured interview technique to collect data. Drawing on the works of Emmanuel Levinas and Judith Butler, I examine what it means to face the alterity of the suicidal 'Other', and what this facing entails in terms of research ethics as relational. I argue that facing reveals not only myself as more vulnerable than I anticipated, but also the suicidal 'Other' as agentic instead of only vulnerable and at-risk of suicide.