In my role as associate editor, I have worked with many phenomenal authors and researchers. And, over the past 20 years I have also had the pleasure of watching research grow and build over time. In my opinion, The Prevention Researcher was often on the forefront of many important topics, and even with more commonplace topics we kept our focus on providing research-based direction for those people who work with youth in every-day environments. With our prevention approach, we always strove to focus on the positive — envisioning a world where all youth were provided with the resources and support they needed to succeed.

Of course in that time, the publishing world has changed drastically. Since our first issue in 1994, publishing has transformed from a basically text-based print medium, to text with pictures, to digital productions complete with video and audio elements. We have also witnessed researchers’ interests shift from sharing their findings strictly in high-impact research journals to collaborating on articles which have a much wider appeal. Being a part of these changes has been an amazing ride, and I hope that our work at The Prevention Researcher informed youth-serving professionals to make positive impacts on the lives of youth themselves.

While The Prevention Researcher will soon be gone, the staff here remains largely intact. With our parent organization, the Foundation for Global Sport Development, we will fine tune our efforts to focus specifically on youth in sports. Within the next few months we will be releasing a new website which will be a paramount resource on all things related to youth and the culture of sport. I hope that you will continue with us on this new journey.

Unique Vulnerabilities
An important aspect of supporting LGBT young people and their relationships, is understanding their unique vulnerability to challenging issues and situations, especially during adolescence (Garofalo, Wolf et al., 1998). This vulnerability is not because of their LGBT identity, but because of societal stigma regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, and its effects (Hart & Heimberg, 2001). Research has identified a number of areas in which LGBT youth experience disparities including: risk-taking behavior; estrangement (from family and friends); depression; stress; violence; suicide; alcohol, tobacco, and substance use; and increased risk of teen pregnancy involvement.

These risks may also significantly impact romantic relationships among LGBT youth in numerous ways. For example, ways that unplanned teen pregnancy involvement intersects with societal stigma, adolescent “camouflaging” behavior, and LGBT adolescent relationships are particularly complicated.

Much of the research about LGBT youth has focused on deficits, with only a few researchers also pursuing inquiry into ways LGBT youth are resilient. Though many LGBT adolescents not only survive but thrive, research is just beginning to turn toward topics in resilience and ways having a marginalized orientation or identity may contribute to resilience-building and other positive skills and attributes.

Promoting Healthy Relationships
Given this backdrop, how can professionals promote healthy relationships among LGBT youth? What resources exist, and what does the research tell us? In what ways are relationships similar among LGBT youth and their non-LGBT peers, and in what ways do they differ?

Developing awareness of sexuality and learning about and cultivating romantic relationships, are key tasks of adolescence, as well as arenas for young people to develop interpersonal skills and more fully explore themselves in relation to others and the world. These relationships provide opportunities for young people to consider themes of identity, explore sexuality and intimacy, and form social support networks (Coontz, 2006).

Existing research with different-sex adolescent romantic relationships indicates that these relationships provide opportunities not only for sexual satisfaction, but also important opportunities for recreation, leisure, and social support (Furman & Shaffer, 2003). Yet little research has included same-sex romantic relationships. One of the few to compare and contrast same-sex and different-sex adolescent relationships found the relationships were quite similar on a variety of dimensions. Differences that were found were more related to the sex of the partners, rather than to their sexual orientation (Darling & Clarke, 2009).

Limited Number of Potential Partners
Several other important themes can significantly impact healthy relationships among LGBT youth. First, simply because there are fewer LGBT youth than non-LGBT youth, the number of potential partners for LGBT youth is limited. Unlike their peers, the pool of available romantic partners can be rather small. And this can be especially magnified in smaller towns, schools or colleges, and other settings.

Research has found that, in part because of this smaller number of potential romantic partners, LGBT young people may be more likely to enter into a relationship, and less likely to leave one (Darling & Clarke, 2009). This study also found LGBT adolescents were more motivated to maintain their romantic relationships, more likely to pay attention to the needs of their partners, to have more empathy for their partners, and be more accurate in their assessments of their partners’ emotions. The study suggested that this element – that of being aware of having fewer choices of potential partners due to sexual orientation – may assist or encourage LGBT adolescents in developing conflict negotiation skills.

Unsafe Environments
Another aspect that can be different for LGBT adolescents than their non-LGBT peers has to do with simple environmental reality factors. In many areas of the country, it still may not be safe (physically or emotionally) for LGBT couples (of any age) to show affection in many of the settings their non-LGBT peers take for granted. This can be an obvious barrier, as it may mean many of the settings and activities in which adolescent relationships and dating take place may not feel safe for LGBT adolescents.

Lack of Role Models
These unsafe settings can also magnify the effect of seeing few role models of healthy adult LGBT relationships, either in one’s own community or in the larger society. “Impact,” the LGBT Health and Development Program at Northwestern University, has created a resource on the specific theme of finding role models for healthy LGBT relationships.

Lack of Accurate Information about Sexuality
An additional issue facing LGBT adolescents is the lack of access to accurate information about sexuality that is inclusive of LGBT topics and themes. Some sex education curricula do not include any information about LGBT youth; and in some school districts and local jurisdictions it can even be illegal for a teacher to mention supportive resources for LGBT youth. Fortunately, the internet can make things a bit easier. Out for Health’s Queer Tips, offers “the best queer sex ed class you were never offered,” with posts on wide-ranging topics including healthy relationships, communication, health, history, and more. And Scarleteen, “sex ed for the real world” offers inclusive information for youth and young adults across a host of sexuality themes. These, and other internet resources, can help address the knowledge gaps for LGBT adolescents, and those who care about them.

Another challenge, particularly for adolescents who identify as transgender and for their partners, can be the lack of basic sexuality education that describes anatomy and physiology without the usual “boys parts/girls parts” dichotomy. Scarleteen’s article With Pleasure: A View of Whole Sexual Anatomy for Every Body has done an excellent and comprehensive job of approaching this from a more inclusive approach. The information is useful and applicable to everyone, and is written in an inviting manner specifically for adolescents.

Conclusion
There is still much to be learned about the particular stresses and successes of LGBT adolescent relationships. Additional research and resources are key to fostering healthy relationships for LGBT young people.

References
Coontz, S. (2006). Romance and sex in adolescence and emerging adulthood. In A.C. Crouter & A. Booth (Eds.), Romance and Sex in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: Risks and Opportunities (pp. 87–91). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Darling, N., & Clarke, S.A. (2009). Seeing the partner: A video recall study of emotional behavior in same- and mixed-sex late adolescent romantic couples. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38, 1015–1026.

Furman, W., & Shaffer, L. (2003). The role of romantic relationships in adolescent development. In P. Florsheim (Ed.), Adolescent Romantic Relations and Sexual Behavior: Theory, Research, and Practical Implications (pp. 3–22). Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

Garofalo, R., Wolf, R.C., Kessel, S., Palfrey, J., & DuRant, R.H. (1998). The association between health risk behaviors and sexual orientation among a school-based sample of adolescents. Pediatrics, 101(5), 895-902.

Hart, T.A., & Heimberg, R.G. (2001). Presenting problems among treatment-seeking gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57, 615-627.

How do teens typically get help for dating violence, and how can adults and other teens best respond to dating violence survivors?

What roles do gender and culture play in youths’ decisions about seeking help?

How do parents’ and other adults’ gender and culture influence their responses to youth seeking help?

These are the questions which begin the article “Help-seeking and Help-giving for Teen Dating Violence” by Arlene Weisz and Beverly Black. And, they are the questions the article seeks to answer.

Based on numerous research projects conducted by the authors, this article explores how teens seek help for dating violence (hint, it is not from parents or other concerned adults) and how teens provide assistance to their friends in violent dating relationships. It concludes with helpful strategies for adults who work with youth.

As part of relationship wellness month, we are making this article available for free download. For a limited time, you can access it from here.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Nicole Daley, the Program Director for the Boston Start Strong Initiative, and Ricky Smith, a teen peer leader with Start Strong, about healthy teen break-ups. Featured in our podcast, “Respectful and Healthy Teen Break-ups,” Nicole and Ricky offer adult-educator and teen perspectives on ending relationships. We discuss the differences between healthy and unhealthy break-ups, how teens can prepare for ending a relationship, and ways adults can support youth through the process. Nicole also shares with us how teen break-ups are related to teen dating violence.

Like all of our podcasts, “Respectful and Healthy Teen Break-ups” is available streaming from our website, as an enhanced podcast on YouTube, or as a written transcript.

Brooke Lusk: This is a really interesting project – educating youth about lyrics in popular music representing healthy and unhealthy relationships.  What made Start Strong realize this is an important area of focus?

Nicole Daley: Roughly three years ago the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a white paper that discussed the correlation between music lyrics and health outcomes for young people. It didn’t present causation; however, it posited that music is related to negative outcomes from young people.  At the time, we were working with our own young people and saw how much music is present in their lives — they listen to it on the bus to school, as they are doing homework, etc.  As we began our work we thought really about the healthy and unhealthy relationship messages they are receiving from the music about relationships implicitly and explicitly from lyrics. So it was important to begin a conversation about how they were interpreting those messages in the music about relationships.

Brooke Lusk: What are some lyrics or themes we should listen for that promote healthy and positive relationships?  Conversely, how can we tell if a song is promoting an unhealthy relationship?

Nicole Daley: Some themes to look for in songs that promote healthy relationships include fun, support, equality, and communication.  If a partner in a song or video shows that they are exhibiting those traits it can be a sign of a great relationship.  Some of the themes that can be found promoting unhealthy relationships are drama, possession/obsession, manipulation and disrespect.

In addition, another common love myth sometimes is that relationship=sex message. The song may be talking about a great relationship and how highly the partner esteems his partner, but when you look deeper the relationship is based mostly on sex.  What is tough to navigate and great about the tool is that relationships portrayed in songs may have both healthy and unhealthy relationship traits depicted.  As the teens discuss the lyrics, it’s important to help them think about what does the gray area mean and how would they navigate that type of relationship.

Brooke Lusk: How has Start Strong disseminated this information to teens?

Nicole Daley: We disseminate this information to teens in two ways.  One is from teen to teen.  Our peer leaders go out to community centers and after-school programs and discuss song lyrics and videos using the nutrition label and True View Tool with their peers and younger teens.  Two: adult to teen. Our tools are available online at http://www.bphc.org/programs/cafh/violenceprevention/strartstrong/Pages/Home.aspx, and lots of teachers, youth workers, church youth ministry leaders use them as part of their discussion groups with teens as well.

Brooke Lusk: What has been the response, from both young men and women?

Nicole Daley: I think the tools have been equally received from young women and young men.  What makes our tools so useful is that the teens get to choose the songs and videos they watch and listen to the most. So you can have the most relevant conversations about how they are interpreting the song lyrics and what value they place on those lyrics.  If the group of teens you work with love country music or pop music you can select songs from that genre that talk about relationships and discuss it with them.

Brooke Lusk: What advice would you give to an adult working with a teen on understand the “nutritional” value of lyrics?

Nicole Daley: While it can be very easy to judge what teens listen to, it is more important to have the conversation with them and allow them to navigate the lyrics.  Many of our teens walk away still listening to the songs they deciphered.  The important change is that many of them realize that the message in it isn’t healthy.  The goal of them seeing the “nutritional value” of the song lyrics is to help them be critical consumers and to think twice on how they want to act on that message.

In addition, it is really important to help teens decipher the “healthy” love myths that are propagated in music. It may be very sweet that an artist is singing about never letting their partner go, but how that plays out in reality can be very controlling behavior. So seeing the subtleties in the messages about love are just as important as deciphering the overt derogatory song lyrics.

Start Strong offers many resources on their website.  In addition to the Nutrition Label, teens can also use the TrueView tool, which helps them better understand the messages in music videos. We made a couple of playlists of songs which Start Strong has rated as depicting healthy or unhealthy relationships, based on the Nutrition Label.

Songs which depict healthy and positive relationships:

Songs which depict negative or unhealthy relationships:

It was 2007 when I was first asked about doing an issue on restorative justice by our author, Sandra Pavelka. Although I was potentially interested, two things kept this issue from happening more quickly: First, I felt like the literature surrounding restorative justice needed to have a stronger research-base; and, second, restorative justice was a concept and approach I struggled to fully understand. There are so many types of interventions that fall under the rubric of “restorative justice” that seeing the connections was difficult for me.

Later — in 2011 — when I began working with Laura Mirsky of the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) on an article about restorative practices it finally became very clear. I finally understood how the many different approaches which are all considered “Restorative Justice” fit together and revolve around the same goal – to restore the harm done by a wrongdoing. At this time, I felt like the field had finally matured enough to devote an entire issue of The Prevention Researcher to restorative justice — not only was the research stronger, but restorative justice advocates were doing a better job of articulating their work.

So, in 2012, work began on our Restorative Justice issue. As with all of our issues, I started by talking with members of our Advisory Board. I learned that many of them were also unclear about what, exactly, restorative justice was. Building on their feedback and my own difficulties understanding this approach, we worked to create an issue for The Prevention Researcher which started at the beginning.

For our issue, we found an excellent author, Avery Calhoun, to write the introduction, which provides a brief history and gives us a foundation. Then, we feature two case studies – one set in a school and one in a juvenile justice program – to show restorative justice at work. We add detail to the mechanics of restorative justice with two additional articles, one about the supports necessary to bring restorative justice into a school, and another about the difficulties that youth with language competence problems have in the highly verbal exchanges typical in restorative justice programs. Finally, I am delighted to conclude this issue with an interview with Ted Wachtel of IIRP. While our issue is focused primarily around restorative justice, Ted talks about the broader approach of restorative practices, which has the potential to stop wrongdoing from happening in the first place.

With support from IIRP the digital edition of our February 2013 restorative justice issue is available for free. Learn more about the issue here (where you may also purchase printed copies). Or, go here to view the whole issue in digital format.

This chart from the Annie E. Casey Foundation outlines the recidivism rates of youth who have been released from each state’s juvenile justice system. While the rates vary, typically you’ll see that within a year of release, 1 in 3 youth commit another crime.  The numbers increase as time goes on. To me this is a clear signal that something about our juvenile justice system needs to change, and perhaps incorporating restorative practices can improve these numbers. Our upcoming issue on Restorative Justice will further explore its role in the juvenile justice system.

Beyond crime, youth are faced with harms and wrongdoing in many situations – at home, school, sports, etc. How can restorative practices in these other, more commonplace settings be beneficial? Our newest podcast seeks to answer this question. The International Institute for Restorative Practices connected me with Dr. Christopher Plum, the interim superintendent of the Plymouth Educational Center charter school district in Detroit, Michigan. For the past several years, the schools in this district have incorporated restorative practices. An example of one of these is having “circles,” both proactively and as a response to a wrongdoing. Circles bring together the wrongdoer with those affected by a harm, and restorative questions are asked, such as: What were you thinking when you made this decision? How have you been affected? (See more restorative questions here)

In talking with Dr. Plum, it became increasingly clear to me that restorative practices empower youth and adults to accept responsibility for their own actions, feelings, and interactions with other people. Teaching youth these skills can greatly benefit them in later life as they mature into adults with a wider variety of relationships. I invite you to listen to the podcast and learn more about how a school’s culture can completely change by implementing restorative practices.  And I encourage you to think of ways you can incorporate these practices in your own work with youth.

We offer three ways to access this podcast:

Audio streaming from our website

Enhanced video podcast on YouTube

PDF transcript of interview

We believe that improving the outcomes of youth in foster care requires supports from many sources, not just those that the child welfare system can provide. An upcoming special issue of The Prevention Researcher will explore the many supports we can provide to youth in foster care to increase their chances for both short term and long term success.

Currently, we are soliciting article proposals which explore these supports. If you are interested in writing for this special issue, please see our Call for Abstracts. The due date for article proposals is February 18, 2013.

If you have questions, email Colette Kimball at ckimball@TPRonline.org.

After the club’s first meeting, my friend shared with me some moving details: at least twenty students showed up – to the FIRST meeting, some students voiced aloud for the first time that they self-identify as a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth but have not felt safe and comfortable expressing their gender in a school environment, and, most importantly, all students were able to share concerns about negative experiences in school – from both teachers and peers. This open, accepting environment was finally a safe place for them. This is nothing short of amazing and inspiring.

Of course, in addition to the excitement my friend felt, she was also concerned about how to proceed with sponsoring the GSA. She wants to continue to provide a safe place for the students, but also needs to address the other issues students discussed during the meeting, particularly anti-LGBT bullying by faculty and peers.

Because I personally have little experience in starting or sponsoring a GSA, I directed her to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).  This non-profit organization has been advocating for and supporting LGBT students in schools for over 20 years. Conducting research and providing toolkits for supportive adults and teens, GLSEN is a great resource for anyone desiring to make their school a safer place for LGBT youth, whether a GSA is in existence or not.

I’ve outlined some resources from GLSEN, and I encourage you to contact them if you have questions or concerns about making your school safe for ALL students. Hearing about my friend’s first experience as a sponsor of a GSA reaffirmed my understanding that creating a safe space for LGBT students is imperative to support their educational experience.

• Register your GSA – Count your school’s voice among the many.
• The 2011 National School Climate Survey – Research about the experiences of LGBT youth in schools.
• The Educators’ Guide to LGBT Pride – Details five ways to celebrate LGBT Pride.
• Safe Space Kit – “This guide provides concrete strategies for supporting LGBT students, educating about anti-LGBT bias and advocating for changes in your school. The kit also shows how to assess the school’s climate, policies and practices and outlines ways to advocate for change inside the school.”
• Training Workshops for Educators and Community Leaders – Learn how to start an Educator Training Program.
• A Guide to Ally Week – Support your students as they take the initiative against anti-LGBT behaviors and language in school.
• Unheard Voices – Tools to integrate LGBT history into curriculum.

1. 1. Recruiting Advisory Board Members — Reaching out to our readers and fellow research advocates is one way we recruit new members for our Advisory and Editorial Boards.  Both boards contribute to the success and relevance of The Prevention Researcher.

 

2. 2. Teen Addiction Recovery and Families — We value our readers’ feedback and input to keep the information we publish significant for professionals who work with youth.  This blog post called for questions from readers on the topic of working with families who are supporting a youth in recovery. The questions and their answers were published in our 2012 Resource Issue, “Supporting Youth in Recovery.” The article is available here.

 

3. 3. Relationship and Dating Violence Resources for LGBT Youth — Serving as a follow up to a previous blog on the same topic, this post offers links and videos on the topic of maintaining healthy LGBTQ relationships and information about abusive dating relationships among LGBT youth.

 

4. 4. Adolescents and Poverty: A Free Feature Article — Periodically throughout the year, we offer free feature articles to showcase highly useful and valuable information to professionals at no cost. With 2 out of 10 teens living in poverty in this country (higher numbers than in the year 2000), this particuarly blog post and the article mentioned were clearly popular. To see our current free feature article on service learning, click here.

 

5. 5. “Human trafficking” aka modern day slavery — Human trafficking is a difficult subject to comprehend. This blog post seeks to bring awareness to the issue by offering links and resources, including a video on the topic of identifying and supporting victims.

Do you have a favorite blog post from The Prevention Researcher for 2012? If you’re interested in getting updates when we post new blog, Like us on Facebook and you’ll be the first to know!