The roles of school in supporting LGBTQ+ youth: A systematic review and ecological framework for understanding risk for suicide-related thoughts and behaviors

The extant literature on suicide-related thoughts and behaviors (STB) has highlighted increased patterns of risk among specific minoritized populations, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, two spirit, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth. Compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers, LGBTQ+ youth are at increased risk for having STB. Identity-specific stressors such as homonegativity and anti-queerness are among the unique factors posited to contribute to this risk and inhibit factors that protect against suicide. The school setting has been a focal point for suicide prevention and intervention and may also play a key role in linking students to care; however, schools also hold the potential to provide supports and experiences that may buffer against risk factors for STB in LGBTQ+ students. This systematic literature review presents findings from 44 studies examining school-related correlates of STB in LGBTQ+ students, informing an ecological approach to suicide prevention for school settings. Findings underscore the importance of school context for preventing STB in LGBTQ+ youth. Approaches that prioritize safety and acceptance of LGBTQ+ youth should span multiple layers of a student's ecology, including district and state level policies and school programs and interventions, such as Gender and Sexuality Alliances and universal bullying prevention programs. Beyond their role as a primary access point for behavioral health services, schools offer a unique opportunity to support suicide prevention by combating minority stressors through promoting positive social relationships and a safe community for LGBTQ+ students.

School Risk and Protective Factors of Suicide: A Cultural Model of Suicide Risk and Protective Factors in Schools

There are known cultural variations in correlates of and symptoms related to suicide-related thoughts and behaviors; however, the majority of research that informs suicide prevention in school systems has focused on research based on Euro-American/White students. By exploring school-related risk and protective factors in ethnic-racial minoritized students, we expand existing multicultural models of suicide prevention for school settings. Specifically, this systematic literature review identified 33 studies conducted with American Indian and Alaskan Native, Hispanic and Latinx, Black and African American, and Asian American and Pacific Islander students. Findings underscore the importance of building relationships with the school community and fostering a sense of safety for students, the need to approach school-based suicide prevention and intervention with cultural considerations, and the importance of connecting students and families with providers in culturally sensitive and informed ways. Taken together, schools need to build school-family-community partnerships that promote culturally sensitive approaches to suicide prevention.

A brief report on the promise of system 2 cues for impacting teacher decision-making in school discipline practices for Black male youth

Despite the evidence implicating implicit racial bias in teacher decision-making as one reason for the overrepresentation of Black male students in school discipline practices, there is minimal research regarding interventions that address implicit racial bias in the school setting. A System 2 cue refers to a behavioral cue that engages more deliberate and controlled cognitive processes in decision-making and mitigates the impact of unconscious racial bias in decision-making, in contrast to System 1 processing which employs more automatic cognitive processes. This pilot study evaluated the use of a System 2 cue in teacher decision-making and included 361 practicing teachers. All participants read a vignette describing a Black male student's behavior and were then assigned to a control condition or the System 2 cue condition. Differences in teacher perception of troublesome behavior were analyzed with independent samples t test and likelihood of completing an office discipline referral was compared with binary logistic regression. Results indicate that addition of a System 2 cue predicted ODR likelihood, but perception of troublesome behavior was more predictive and explained the relationship between System 2 cue and referral likelihood. Further, we found differences in two aspects of troublesome behavior perception (i.e., level of concern and belief that the behavior will occur again in the future) for teachers receiving a System 2 cue compared to those who did not, preliminarily suggesting that some perceptions of troublesome behavior may be alterable through System 2 cues. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Preserving Abstinence and Preventing Rape: How Sex Education Textbooks Contribute to Rape Culture

Recent academic and popular conversations regarding #MeToo, sexual violence and harassment, and rape culture have begun to focus on K-12 educational spaces in the U.S., but they rarely examine how educational curricula actually foster or combat these dynamics. In this article, we present a qualitative content analysis of health education textbooks, which explores the following question: What implicit and explicit messages do youth receive about sexual violence, and specifically, sexual violence prevention in health education textbooks? As we explored this question, we analyzed the roles that sex education curricula may play in shaping (e.g., contributing to, intervening upon) rape culture. We found the following messages across textbooks: abstinence is the only way to preserve one's safety; lack of abstinence increases risks, including the risk of being raped; and girls/women must assume personal responsibility and enact strategies that preserve one's abstinence and prevent them from being raped. This article concludes by teasing out how curricula can shape interactions, relationships, and culture, and by offering recommendations for improving sex education curricula.

Using child rights education to infuse a social justice framework into universal programming

A key part of promoting social justice as school psychologists is infusing practice with actions that breakdown systems of inequity and incorporate systems of inclusion. The current manuscript provides a description of applying social justice as a framework in universal programming through child rights education. Additionally, the manuscript describes the use of action research methodology to incorporate a social justice perspective not only in program content but also in program development. Results of this project provide preliminary support for child rights education in impacting student’s knowledge regarding child rights, teacher acceptability of such programming, and modest impact on social and emotional skills related to interpersonal relationships in the classroom.

School-Based Interventions for Reducing Youths’ Racial and Ethnic Prejudice

Minoritized youth encounter racial and ethnic prejudice and discrimination in a variety of settings, including schools. Prejudice refers to harboring negative attitudes and beliefs toward targeted social groups; discrimination reflects translating those attitudes into actions that marginalize targeted groups. Exposure to racial and ethnic discrimination has been associated with numerous detrimental outcomes for youth, including poorer mental health outcomes and lower levels of academic performance. This article describes the nature of racial and ethnic discrimination encountered by minoritized youth as well as its impact on these populations. It also reviews research on prejudice reduction interventions for youth, with a focus on those interventions designed for school settings. In light of existing research, several policy recommendations support high-quality, evidence-based programming in schools.

A Preliminary Investigation of the Reliability and Validity of the BESS-3 Teacher and Student Forms

Universal screening for behavioral and emotional risk is an important part of implementing multi-tiered behavioral supports in schools. The current study adds to our understanding of universal screening by examining teacher and student reports of behavioral and emotional risk. Participants included 73 fourth-grade students and 4 teachers in an urban school in the Midwestern United States. Correlations between the two informants ranged from moderate to large for the overall T-score, internalizing problems, and externalizing/self-regulation problems, but were not significant for personal adjustment/adaptive skills. Furthermore, the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) Teacher Form (TF) showed concurrent and predictive validity with academic scores, whereas the BESS Student Form (SF) showed concurrent and predictive validity with measures of school climate. Results of this study indicate that teachers and students may provide unique information regarding student functioning.

Experiences of Arab heritage youth in US schools and impact on identity development

To fulfill the promise of inclusive school environments that support all students, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms by which discrimination and support occur in the school setting and how these mechanisms impact student development. The current study explored ways schools facilitate supportive or marginalizing experiences for first generation Arab heritage youth in the United States and investigated how these experiences impact acculturative experiences and identity negotiation for these students. Focus groups were conducted with 21 Arab American early college students and community dwellers. Qualitative analyses revealed three mechanisms by which the school setting uniquely impacts Arab heritage student's identity negotiation in high school: 1) peer and teacher discrimination; 2) school curriculum treatment of Arab history and culture; 3) and broader school structures that allow for student cultural expression. Implications and suggestions for School Psychologists are discussed.