Engagement in Gender-Sexuality Alliances Predicts Youth's Positive and Negative Affect: An 8-Week Weekly Diary Study.

Publisher: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0333507 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-6601 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00472891 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Youth Adolesc Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 1999- : New York, NY : Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
Original Publication: New York, Plenum Press.

Interpersonal Relations* ; Social Behavior*; Humans ; Adolescent ; Sexual Behavior ; Heterosexuality ; Affect

Gender-Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) are school clubs for LGBTQ + youth and peer allies to support one another. This 8-week weekly diary study considered whether a youth's positive and negative affect during a given week could be predicted by experiences in their most recently attended GSA meeting. Ninety-nine GSA members (M age  = 15.90, SD = 1.33; 79% LGBQ + ; 41% trans/non-binary; 59% youth of color) in 11 states completed weekly surveys between January and May 2021. On average, some youth reported higher positive and negative affect than others. Youth also varied notably in their own positive and negative affect from week to week. Youth reported relatively higher positive affect on days following GSA meetings where they were more engaged than in other meetings and had spent time socializing in the meeting. Youth reported relatively higher negative affect on days following GSA meetings where they had discussed personal concerns, and relatively lower negative affect on days following meetings where they were more engaged and perceived greater advisor responsiveness. These findings offer a dynamic portrayal of youth's varied experiences across GSA meetings and the more immediate predictive effects of GSA experiences.
(© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

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Keywords: Extracurricular groups; GSA; Gender identity; Mental health; Sexual orientation

Date Created: 20221028 Date Completed: 20230106 Latest Revision: 20230111

20231215

10.1007/s10964-022-01692-4

36303090