Publication Date

1-1-2025

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Developmental Psychology

DOI

10.1037/dev0002024

Abstract

Inclusive school policies and youth advocacy could promote well-being and positive development among youth of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. Utilizing three waves of data over a 6-month period, we tested a three-level multilevel model on the extent to which youth’s advocacy in gender-sexuality alliances (GSAs; school clubs affirming youth identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or with other expansive sexual orientations or gender identities [LGBTQ+]) and attending schools that more thoroughly implemented LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and practices were associated with youth’s self-worth. Participants were 627 youth (87% LGBQ+ youth, 45% transgender or nonbinary youth, 48% youth of color, Mage = 15.13) in 51 GSAs. Youth who reported greater involvement in advocacy over the 6-month period reported greater self-worth than others. There was also a contextual effect at the GSA level: Youth in GSAs whose members collectively reported greater advocacy reported even greater self-worth, beyond what was associated with a youth’s own advocacy. Furthermore, GSA members in schools that more thoroughly implemented LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and practices reported greater self-worth over the study period. The findings highlight the importance of youth and school efforts to affirm the dignity and worth of LGBTQ+ young people.

Keywords

advocacy, gender-sexuality alliances, inclusive school policies, LGBTQ+ youth, self-worth

Comments

©American Psychological Association, 2025. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. The final article is available, upon publication, at: https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002024

Department

Child and Adolescent Development

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