Social Support in Schools and Related Outcomes for LGBTQ Youth: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Recent research has increasingly focused on positive factors and supports for LGBTQ youth. This scoping review explores existing social support for LGBTQ youth in schools through the ecological systems approach to respond to the following four objectives: 1) define social support systems in schools, 2) identify current research on outcomes for LGBTQ youth, 3) identify barriers to support LGBTQ youth in schools, and 4) identify areas for future research for LGBTQ youth and social support in schools. A systematic search (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005) between 2007 through 2021 resulted in 94 articles. This review gave rise to an organizational framework to consolidate various systems of social support for LGBTQ youth in schools. Social support consisted of seven social support systems (family, curriculum, family, peers, school policies, GSAs and programs, and school climate) that are positively associated with the promotion of positive socioemotional, behavioural, and educational outcomes for LGBTQ youth. Though the literature has been clear surrounding the risks associated with LGBTQ youth, this scoping review provides a positive outlook on LGBTQ youth’s school experiences and how these systems of social support allow for LGBTQ youth to act as active participants to foster a positive school climate and sense of safety.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Instruction for and the Implementation of Quebec’s Sexual Health Curriculum

“…Prior to this study, there was no research exploring the impact of COVID-19 on SHE. This study draws from the results of a larger survey (Leung, 2022). The goal of the larger survey was to understand teachers' perspectives on the dissemination of SHE in their schools.…”

“…The current study utilized a larger dataset that consisted of multiple questions (Leung, 2022). For the purpose of this study, only one qualitative question was extracted and analyzed.…”

“…In Canada, SHE is different across provinces and territories because school-based curricula fall under provincial and territorial jurisdiction (Leung, 2022). Although each province and territory mandates some form of SHE, there is variation in structure, instructional time, and learning outcomes between jurisdictions.…”

“…Youth described wanting more opportunities to learn about diverse SHE topics, including more positive and healthy perspectives on sex and relationships (e.g., Narushima et al, 2020). However, many Canadian teachers report feeling unprepared to teach SHE, which is indicative of the lack of required or elective SHE courses in the curricula of Bachelor of Education (BEd) programs required for teacher certification (Leung, 2022). Although teachers report being supportive of providing comprehensive SHE to their students and understand the importance of teaching comprehensive SHE topics, teachers rated themselves less knowledgeable about and comfortable with teaching such topics.…”

“…The discrepancy may suggest a need to focus on pedagogy in teaching SHE topics so that teachers can be increasingly knowledgeable and comfortable. Leung et al (2022) explored associations between teacher characteristics and their attitudes towards and beliefs about SHE. Findings revealed that a teachers' prior knowledge of SHE and experience with teaching SHE positively predicted their comfort and competence with teaching SHE.…”