Exploring How U.S. High School Staff Support, Protect, and Affirm Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: Methods and Lessons Learned from a Qualitative Interview Study

Background. Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) experience health inequities compared with cisgender heterosexuals, and these inequities are heightened in areas with high structural stigma. Quantitative research shows school assets (e.g., adult support) are associated with better health for SGMY...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	International journal of qualitative methods Vol. 21
Main Authors:	Coulter, Robert WS, Henderson, Emmett R, Corey, Stephanie L, Gagnon, Kelly, Chugani, Carla D, Egan, James E, Murphy, Courtney E, Plenn, Eion R, Routh, Nina, Roig, Alyssa, Miller, Elizabeth
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-04-2022 Sage Publications Ltd SAGE Publishing
Subjects:	Advertisements Advertising Cisgender Educational attainment Gender Health disparities Heterosexuality Inequality Interviews Nurse tutors Qualitative research Quantitative analysis Quotas Rural areas Rural communities Sampling School based intervention Schools Secondary schools Self destructive behavior Social media Social networks Sociodemographics States Stigma Suicide Teachers Trauma Youth United States > US school environment gender minority youth sexual minority youth qualitative research
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Summary:	Background. Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) experience health inequities compared with cisgender heterosexuals, and these inequities are heightened in areas with high structural stigma. Quantitative research shows school assets (e.g., adult support) are associated with better health for SGMY. Though some qualitative studies elucidated how school staff support SGMY, none have triangulated such strategies in a geographically and sociodemographically diverse sample of school staff and SGMY. This paper describes a multi-perspective qualitative study design and offers lessons learned from conducting such a study. Methods. Using a novel stratified sampling frame, we interviewed 60 SGMY and 29 school staff who attended/worked at high schools in U.S. states with low, medium, and high structural stigma. To ensure sociodemographic diversity, we constructed sampling quotas, and recruited SGMY using social media and staff using a multi-pronged approach. Results. The stratified sampling strategy met our goal of enrolling diverse SGMY and staff participants. SGMY participants attended schools in low (n = 20), medium (n = 22), and high (n = 18) structural stigma states. We enrolled 18 cisgender girls, 18 cisgender boys, and 24 gender minority youth. Fifty-three percent of SGMY were youth of color, and 45% attended schools in rural areas. School staff participants worked at schools in low (n = 11), medium (n = 11), and high (n = 7) structural stigma states. School staff participants were 55% heterosexual, 91% cisgender, and had diverse roles (e.g., teacher, principal, librarian, and nurse). Conclusions. This paper describes new methods for collecting qualitative data from diverse SGMY and school staff. Some lessons learned from this study include the importance of using trauma-informed interviewing methods, having a suicidality safety protocol, establishing a priori sampling quotas, and creating tailored social media advertisements. With these data we will explore the heterogeneity of SGMY and school staff experiences across varying structural stigma levels, yielding foundational information for future school-based interventions.
ISSN:	1609-4069 1609-4069
DOI:	10.1177/16094069221093132