Alcohol Drinking, Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms, Recreational Drug Use, Risk-Taking, Sexual Violence, Suicidal Ideation, Victimisation
Conditions
Keywords
Risk-Taking, Sexual Behavior, Sex Offenses, Intimate Partner Violence, Crime Victims
Brief summary
The purpose of this project is to develop and evaluate an online mentoring and skill-building program for transgender and/or gender minority youth (TGMY) ages 14 to 18, the Teen Connection Project (TCP). The TCP includes seven 90-minute sessions facilitated by transgender and/or gender minority (TGM) adults (who are also mentors). TGMY will be paired with a TGM adult mentor, based on their shared interests. Mentors and mentees will participate together in each session along with other mentors and mentees. Mentors will direct activities and discussion to promote TGMY social-emotional skills. The TCP sessions will include one-on-one mentor-mentee break-out sessions.
Detailed description
Transgender and/or gender minority youth (TGMY) (i.e., any identity other than cisgender) experience concerning rates of mental health problems, self-harm, alcohol and drug use, sexual risk-taking, and violence victimization and perpetration. Minority stress theory states that peer and family rejection and internalized transphobia predict negative health outcomes in TGMY. This highlights the urgent need to identify effective programs that prevent psychosocial and behavioral health issues among TGMY. Mentoring programs may be especially impactful for TGMY, given that these programs may help alleviate adverse outcomes associated with peer and family rejection, and promote self-acceptance among TGMY. However, few mentoring programs exist specifically for TGMY, and those that do have not been rigorously evaluated; often require guardian permission; generally occur in person via community organizations--which excludes TGMY in high stigma, rural areas of the United States from participating; and rarely include evidence-based skill-building components (e.g., social-emotional skills). The specific aims of this trial are as follow: 1. Assess acceptability and feasibility of the Teen Connection Project (TCP) through observations (to evaluate program delivery and observe mentor-mentee interactions), post-session surveys, and exit interviews with participants. 2. Generate preliminary data on the TCP's efficacy in reducing psychosocial and behavioral health issues facing TGMY, including mental health problems, self-harm, alcohol and drug use, sexual risk-taking, and teen dating violence. 3. Identify treatment options for TGMY. The purpose of this project is to develop and evaluate an online mentoring and skill-building program for transgender and/or gender minority youth (TGMY) ages 14 to 18, the Teen Connection Project (TCP). The TCP includes seven 90-minute sessions facilitated by transgender and/or gender minority (TGM) adults (who are also mentors). TGMY will be paired with a TGM adult mentors, based on their shared interests. Mentors and mentees will participate together in each session, along with other mentors and mentees. Mentors will direct activities and discussion to promote TGMY social-emotional skills. The TCP sessions will include one-on-one mentor-mentee break-out sessions.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALTeen Connection Project (TCP)
The Teen Connection Project (TCP) includes seven 90-minute sessions facilitated by transgender and/or gender minority (TGM) adults. Each transgender and/or gender minority youth (TGMY) will be paired with a TGM adult mentor based on TGMYs' rank-ordered preference for mentors. The research team seeks to match mentors \& mentees such that each TGMY is matched with one of their top 3 preferred mentors. Mentors and mentees participate together in each session along with other mentors \& mentees. Facilitators direct activities/discussion to promote TGMY social-emotional skills acquisition and facilitate mentor-mentee conversations. TCP sessions also include mentor-mentee breakout sessions where mentors share challenges they personally faced as TGMY and how they overcame them. Break-out discussions focus on self-acceptance, coming out, dating questions, hopes and goals for the future, \& how other marginalized social identities, such as race and ethnicity, intersect with identifying as TGMY.
Sponsors
University of Michigan
University of Rhode Island
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
transgender and/or gender minority youth (TGMY) (n=80) are randomly assigned to a treatment (n=40) or wait-list (n=40) control condition.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
14 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
for Youth: * identify as transgender and/or gender minority youth (TGMY) (i.e., any identity other than cisgender) * be between the ages of 14 to 18 years * read and speak English * live in the United States * report consistent access to a phone, tablet, and/or computer with high-speed internet access/Wi-Fi (which represents 90+% of youth in the United States) * report an ability to attend seven, 90-minute online sessions at pre-determined times * pass an assent quiz * report moderate to high levels of internalized transphobia
Exclusion criteria
for Youth: * be at imminent risk for suicide (e.g., intent to kill themselves in the immediate future) as determined by an initial online suicide screening regarding their past month suicide risk (the Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised \[SBQ-R\]; modified to assess past month risk) * demonstrate current psychosis as determined by the Prodromal Questionnaire; modified to just focus on visual and auditory symptoms Inclusion Criteria for Mentors: * be 30 years old or older * identify as transgender and/or gender minority (i.e., any identity other than cisgender)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol Use (Youth-reported) | Time 1 (baseline, pre-intervention), Time 2 (immediately post-intervention), Time 3 (3 months post-intervention) | Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire (YRBSS). Minimum Value = 0, Maximum Value = 6, Higher scores = worse outcomes |
| Drug Use (Youth-reported) | Time 1 (baseline, pre-intervention), Time 2 (immediately post-intervention), Time 3 (3 months post-intervention) | YRBSS. Minimum Value = 0, Maximum Value = 5, Higher scores = worse outcomes |
| Sexual Risk-Taking (Youth-reported) | Time 1 (baseline, pre-intervention), Time 2 (immediately post-intervention), Time 3 (3 months post-intervention) | Researcher-created items, adapted items with input from a youth advisory board from, YRBSS, and Sexual Risk Taking Survey. Minimum Value = 1, Maximum Value = 7, Higher scores = worse outcomes |
| Dating and Sexual Violence (DSV) victimization-1 (Youth-reported) | Time 1 (baseline, pre-intervention), Time 2 (immediately post-intervention), Time 3 (3 months post-intervention) | Measure of Adolescent Relationship Harassment and Abuse (MARSHA). Minimum Value = 0, Maximum Value = 3, Higher scores = worse outcomes |
| DSV perpetration-1 (Youth-reported) | Time 1 (baseline, pre-intervention), Time 2 (immediately post-intervention), Time 3 (3 months post-intervention) | MARSHA. Minimum Value = 0, Maximum Value = 3, Higher scores = worse outcomes |
| DSV victimization-2 (Youth-reported) | Time 1 (baseline, pre-intervention), Time 2 (immediately post-intervention), Time 3 (3 months post-intervention) | CTS-2: SGM-Specific Intimate partner Violence (IPV) Tactics Scale \[CTS = Conflict Tactics Scale, SGM = sexual and gender minority\]. Minimum Value = 0, Maximum value = 3, Higher scores = worse outcomes |
| DSV perpetration-2 (Youth-reported) | Time 1 (baseline, pre-intervention), Time 2 (immediately post-intervention), Time 3 (3 months post-intervention) | CTS-2: SGM-Specific IPV Tactics Scale. Minimum Value = 0, Maximum Value = 3, Higher scores = Worse outcomes |
| Depressive symptoms (Youth-reported) | Time 1 (baseline, pre-intervention), Time 2 (immediately post-intervention), Time 3 (3 months post-intervention) | Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents (PHQ-9). Minimum Value = 0, Maximum Value = 3, Higher scores = Worse outcomes |
| Anxiety symptoms (Youth-reported) | Time 1 (baseline, pre-intervention), Time 2 (immediately post-intervention), Time 3 (3 months post-intervention) | Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7). Minimum Value = 0, Maximum Value = 3, Higher scores = Worse outcomes |
| Suicidality (Youth-reported) | Time 1 (baseline, pre-intervention), Time 2 (immediately post-intervention), Time 3 (3 months post-intervention) | Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS). Minimum Value = 0, Maximum Value = 10, Higher scores = Better outcomes |
Countries
United States
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORKatie M Edwards, PhD
University of Michigan
Outcome results
None listed