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Data indicate that 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide, with suicidality highest among transgender youth. Using minority stress theory and the interpersonal theory of suicide, this study aims to better understand suicide risk among transgender youth. The present study examines the influence of intervenable risk factors: interpersonal and environmental microaggressions, internalized self-stigma, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and protective factors: school belonging, family support, and peer support on both lifetime suicide attempts and past 6-month suicidality in a sample of transgender youth (n = 372). SPSS 22 was utilized to examine the impact of the independent variables on both suicidality and lifetime suicide attempt through two separate logistic regressions. Fifty six percent of youth reported a previous suicide attempt and 86% reported suicidality. Logistic regressions indicated that models for both lifetime suicide attempts and suicidality were significant. Interpersonal microaggressions, made a unique, statistically significant contribution to lifetime suicide attempts and emotional neglect by family approached significance. School belonging, emotional neglect by family, and internalized self-stigma made a unique, statistically significant contribution to past 6-month suicidality. Results have significant practice and policy implications. Findings offer guidance for practitioners working with parents and caregivers of trans youth, as well as, for the creation of practices which foster interpersonal belonging for transgender youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Party-n-Play (PNP) refers to sex between gay and bisexual men that occurs under the influence of drugs. Growing evidence suggests gay and bisexual men who PNP experience significant stigma and social exclusion. Less is known about the resilience of this population. Utilising critical discourse analysis, this study examined how gay and bisexual men who PNP talk about social exclusion and resilience in their lives. In-depth one-hour interviews were conducted with forty-four gay and bisexual men who lived in Toronto, and who used various drugs before or during sex with another man in the previous month. Study findings revealed that social exclusion was perpetuated through discourses of stigma, deviance, morality, heteronormativity, homophobia, racism, classism, risk and policing. These discourses also negatively affected participants' interactions with health care providers. However, many participants evoked resilience discourses and described social bonds, friendships and relations of care in their networks. Social work professionals would benefit from examining the roles of social exclusion, as well as stigmatising and pathologising discourses in their practice. These findings also underscore the need for culturally sensitive social work interventions for this population that address social exclusion and foster resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating contextual competency frameworks into health social work education and practice can bolster student training and staff supervision strategies. This article describes the iterative development of a Health Social Work Competency Rating Scale (HSWCRS), generated using a competency framework tested through simulation and an iterative research process with healthcare social workers. A modified Delphi method consisting of an e-mail questionnaire, two discussion meetings, and two rounds of classroom-based testing were employed to develop and refine the scale with the participation of clinicians, students, and researchers. The HSWCRS is designed to convey the core competencies required for single-session social work consultations in a healthcare setting by assessing formal elements (such as introduction, validation, cultural inclusiveness, client centredness), use of self (such as self-awareness, positionality), and an overall assessment of knowledge and skills. This scale adds to the competency-based education literature in social work by offering a guide to assess and measure key healthcare social work competencies in a range of educational environments, and has the potential to guide practice in educational and practice settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Council on Social Work Education mandates that students be prepared to work competently across lines of difference. Research suggests that social work programs have inadequate curricula for preparing students to work with LGBTQ+ people, and can be unsupportive of the needs of LGBTQ+ students. Little is understood about the experiences of LGBTQ+ social work students who work to address these programmatic inadequacies. This qualitative study collected data from LGBTQ+ social work students in the US and Canada who had engaged in efforts to increase inclusion in their programs. A thematic analysis found that students used individual and collective strategies to increase programmatic inclusion of LGBTQ+ people and content. Participants also described the burden associated with doing this identity work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the discourses of gay and bisexual men who seek Party-n-Play (PNP; sex that occurs under the influence of drugs) on mobile apps and websites. In-depth interviews were conducted with 44 gay and bisexual men who lived in Toronto, and who used drugs before or during sex in the previous month. Data were analysed using critical discourse analysis. The study findings presented evidence for subcultural discourses of gay and bisexual men who seek PNP online, and revealed how these discourses were implicated in recasting the practices of biopolitics, as well as enacting risk subjectivities of these men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) promotes sexual and mental health risk reduction. Tailored affirmative approaches, where facilitators validate participants' lived experiences, can bolster CBT's potential to improve coping and mood, especially for sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY). Specialized training better prepares clinicians to deliver affirmative CBT and contributes to implementation fidelity. This paper describes a standardized facilitator training for clinicians to deliver an affirmative CBT group intervention to SGMY. The AFFIRM training consists of fourteen hours of didactic and simulation-based learning. Study participants (n = 129) represented diverse professional, sexual, gender, and ethnoracial identities with a particular focus on community-based practitioners. To evaluate training effectiveness, The Affirmative CBT Facilitator Competence Scale (ACCS; 7-items, α = 0.922), designed for this study was completed by participants. Paired sample t-tests showed a significant difference between pre (M = 18.14, SD = 5.90) and post training scores (M = 25.97, SD = 6.34); t(128) = −16.21, p <.001). Thematic analysis of qualitative feedback identified two major themes strengthened ability to affirm SGMY identities and increased competence to deliver AFFIRM. The training increased the skills of a diverse group of clinicians to facilitate affirmative CBT to SGMY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines students' negative experiences in field placement related to their sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression, examining areas of conflict and emotional responses to conflicts. Using a subset of data gathered as part of a larger survey of 1,018 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) undergraduate and graduate social work students in the United States and Canada, an analysis is conducted on qualitative responses (N=207) to a question about conflict in the field. The authors identified six LGBTQ-related conflict themes: managing disclosure, unsupportive agency atmosphere, handling others' discomfort, dealing with discriminatory attitudes and behaviors, bad practice with LGBTQ clients, and challenges found within an LGBTQ-serving agency. Forty student responses discussed feelings of fear, sadness, discomfort, and shame. Implications for field education with LGBTQ social work students are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) often lack support to navigate their minority identities and elevated psychosocial risks. When their offline environment presents challenges to wellbeing, many SGMY turn to internet-enabled information and communication technologies (ICTs) to develop identities, cope with daily stressors, and access support. However, online environments also contain negativity, including comments which display anti-sexual and gender minority (SGM) biases. Such content differs from cyberbullying, which is typically intentional and perpetrated by offline peers. It is critical to understand how SGMY cope with negative comments online, as these interactions may threaten resilience. This grounded theory and integrative mixed methods study explored the online experiences of SGMY from the United States and Canada (n = 5,243), to identify the range and influence of negative comments. Participants were primarily adolescents (M = 18.22, SD = 3.61), pansexual, (30.1%, n = 1,576), and cis female, (41.1%, n = 2,592). Open, axial, and selective coding were employed to generate seven themes: appraising, avoiding, responding, adaptive coping, maladaptive coping, impacting wellbeing, and a non-issue; resulting in a model of how SGMY cope with negative comments. Findings highlight the complex ways that SGMY deal with online negativity. Considerations for research and practice are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classroom-based microaggressions are a critical problem, associated with a range of negative impacts for students in targeted groups. Central to the problem of microaggressions is that they are often unacknowledged or unaddressed by educators in their own classrooms. Findings from the Social Work Speaks Out! mixed-method survey demonstrate that LGBTQ+ undergraduate and graduate students experience a range of microaggressions in social work classrooms, as they would in classes in other fields. This article draws on qualitative data to examine the experiences of homophobic and transphobic microaggressions by social work students across the United States and Canada and introduces a new tool, grounded in the data, to guide educators in recognizing, naming, and effectively addressing microaggressions in their own classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer researchers are members of a population under study who have a decision-making role or staff position on a research team. Peer researchers are increasingly required for funding proposals to succeed in Canadian HIV/AIDS research, and are strongly recommended for community-based participatory research in other fields. There is a need to better understand peer researchers' motivations and their impact, both positive and negative, on studies they take part in. The emerging theory of post-professionalism informed a bounded system case study approach, whereby four peer researchers from an HIV, social work, and brain health study were conveniently sampled, then interviewed concerning their experiences and insider-outsider positioning. Personal interest and community leadership were key motivations behind their involvement; language barriers and managing multiple roles were key challenges. Participants identified a risk inherent in the performative interval, considering whether their contributions were a projection of self rather than a representation of participant contributions. Tension between social location and the insider positioning expected of peer researchers requires that academic researchers recognize the personal and social investments that peers make to a study. This paper presents considerations for how healthcare researchers can better engage as peers with peer researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]