A Peer-Support Mental Health Response Training for LGBTQIA+ Adolescents

Abstract

This paper will discuss the correlation between participation in a mental health peersupport training and adolescents’ self-reported feelings of preparedness to deal with mental health crises. The paper will focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other non-heterosexual, non-cisgender youth (LGBTQIA+) between the ages of 13 and 21 years old. The study used a quantitative, written survey with eighteen questions before the intervention, and another with five questions after the intervention. The study originally involved eleven participants, but the number of participants decreased to seven due to attrition. The intervention was administered to every participant. The data were analyzed to find the averages and standard deviations for each category. The results found that the average preparedness increased after the intervention. Due to lack of a control group, the researcher was not able to determine causation, but they were able to determine correlation. The researcher concluded that there was a short-term increase in feelings of preparedness to deal with crises in correlation with receiving the mental health training. MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING 3 A Peer-Support Mental Health Response Training for LGBTQIA+ Adolescents Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 24 (Center for Behavioral, 2016). Mental health problems are also a significant problem for adolescents, to the point where almost one in two adolescents will struggle with some form of mental illness by the time they turn 18 (Center for Behavioral, 2016). Teenagers are at a relatively high rate of committing suicide and suffering from mental illness. As teenagers, they have less independence than adults do. Teenagers do not have the ability to seek help from a professional the same way adults do, not without parental consent. As a result, teenagers tend to have less access to mental health care professionals. Teenagers also have more access to ways to communicate with each other than previous generations have, through cell phones and the internet. The first hypothesis that the researcher wanted to test was that adolescents are more likely to seek help from other adolescents than they are professionals or other adults in authority. The second, related hypothesis is that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) youth are more likely to talk to people their own age if they have not disclosed their identity to their parents. Assuming the above to be true, adolescents need to be trained on how to respond to mental health crises. Mental health professionals and teachers do receive some training on how to respond to mental health crises, but adolescents do not. The researcher analyzed other mental health trainings for laypeople in order to design a training that would work for adolescents. The training was intended to teach adolescents how to respond if a peer were to come to them during a mental health crisis. It was very clear that it was not intended to train the youth as a mental health counselor or therapist. The training was intended to teach them to deal with the emergency if there is one and then connect the individuals with resources that could help them. MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING 4 The third and primary hypothesis of the researcher was that the described training would increase adolescents’ self-reported feelings of preparedness to deal with mental health crises.