Identity processes, such as identity development and identity importance, can help mitigate the negative outcomes associated with stigma among youth with marginalized identities. This study qualitatively investigated identity development and importance among diverse youth with LGBTQ+ parents. Fifty-one youth (ages 12–25 years old) with at least one LGBTQ+ parent in the United States participated. Semi-structured interviews were held from December 2018 to February 2020, with questions about parent-child communication and identity. Using thematic analysis, a trained team coded participants’ transcribed interview responses deductively into Identity Type and then inductively into five themes: Function of Appearance and Perception of Identity, Feelings of Representation Responsibility , Intersections among Personal and Parent/Family Identity , Community Impact on Identity , and Intersection of Personal Identities . Themes support and extend previous findings on the importance of parent, family, and community contexts to identity processes among youth with LGBTQ+ parents and inform law, policy, and practice.
In this study, we qualitatively explored the perspectives of Asian American program leaders who designed and oversaw community-based after-school programs serving Asian American adolescents. We focused on the developmental goals prioritized by these programs and the strategies program leaders found helpful in mitigating challenges they faced. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with seven Asian American program leaders (43% female; 86% U.S.-born) managing community-based after-school programs serving Asian American adolescents located in the Southern California county. Thematic analysis, using both inductive and deductive approaches, identified key themes regarding how program leaders considered and prioritized certain developmental goals and needs for Asian American adolescents in their programs and navigated program challenges. Findings suggest that programs supported Asian American adolescent development by fostering: (1) community-centered skills and (2) adolescents' individual skills and well-being. Leaders addressed challenges such as meeting diverse developmental needs and culture of the adolescents and managing workforce and funding precarity through community support and leveraging staff strengths. Insights from this study offer practitioners a guideline to design and implement practices that leverage community strengths and advance equity for Asian American adolescents.
Youth-driven solutions are required to address the mental health challenges facing youth in the United States. Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is a framework that values the contributions of young people to research processes. Data walks are a methodology that aligns with principles of YPAR, empowers youth, and enhances research quality and impact. Empower Your Voice (EYV), a study describing the well-being of girls in Chicago, conducted six data walk sessions after conducting a survey of 900 youth. Data walk participants reviewed survey results before participating in a facilitated discussion. Participants described positive experiences during the data walk sessions, noting peer-to-peer connection as a strength of the methodology. We found that data walks are an accessible tool for researchers seeking to enhance engagement with youth research participants and improve results interpretation. In EYV, implementation of this method resulted in a more collaborative and engaging research process. Key considerations are necessary to successfully employ the data walk methodology, including hosting data walk sessions in physically and psychologically safe spaces and designing thoughtful discussion questions.
The present study explored the ways in which adolescent Black girls responded to oppressive stereotypes and expectations based on their racial, gender, and intersectional (race-x-gender) identities. Participants included 60 girls who were students at a predominantly Black, all-girls high school ( M age = 16.17 years) and completed a 1:1 semi-structured interview about their identity experiences. Expanding on existing research that offers modes of responding to oppression that are dichotomized and value-laden (i.e., resistance or accommodation), we find that adolescent Black girls engaged in a range of broad, nuanced, and overlapping strategies, within the larger categories of accommodation , survival , and liberation . We note that Black girls strategically negotiated the oppressive contexts in which they develop, and that their choice of response strategy connected to the type of oppression that they were navigating as well as their ability to maintain a coherent sense of self through their experiences with harmful structures and ideologies. Our findings highlight the need to learn from and support Black girls in developing a toolkit of strategies they can use to respond to the complexities of oppression, as well as a sense of agency in choosing which strategy to employ in which context.
The current study aims to understand how parental and adolescent beliefs related to academic achievement and motivation can influence areas such as perceived pressure and perspectives of future career goals. Although previous research has focused on experiences related to academic motivation and achievement among adolescents, there are limited studies prioritizing both parent and adolescent perceptions. Qualitative interviews among seven Asian American adolescent-mother dyads were conducted in the United States of America, with interviews facilitated separately for adolescents and mothers. The study included seven adolescent participants from grades 9 to 12, consisting of five females and two males. All were academically driven and highly involved in extracurricular and co-curricular activities. Utilizing thematic analysis, four main themes were identified: (a) Adolescents’ Perceived Pressure for High Achievement, (b) Youth Involvement in Extracurricular Activities, (c) Parent-Child Perspectives of Career Development, and (d) Family Values. Results indicated that perceptions of pressure were different among mother-adolescent dyads, and parental approaches to achievement motivation were embedded within family values. This likely minimized adolescent resentment and strengthened family connections. The findings highlight the critical role of facilitating healthy parent-child relationships and the importance of using a culturally situated approach when working with diverse families.
