‘It Gets Better’ may not so good at preventing youth LGBT suicides: study

May 23, 2017 by Jill

by Doug Mainwaring, LifeSite:

A new study questions the wisdom and utility of Dan Savage’s ‘It Gets Better’ video project.

Launched in 2010 in response to reports of ‘LGB’ youth suicides, ‘It Gets Better’ eventually collected more than 50,000 video remarks, including then-President Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Hillary Clinton.

Meant to encourage, ‘It Gets Better’ may have had the opposite effect. The study, found in the Journal of Homosexuality, has produced stunning reports in gay-oriented media that previously lauded the Dan Savage project.

A headline at the LGBT-targeted Logo Network’s NewNowNext’s website blares, “‘It Gets Better’ Is Bad Advice For Gay Kids, Study Claims,” and may “do more harm than good.”

The Washington Blade, a website serving the LGBT community in Washington, D.C., features a similar headline, “‘It Gets Better’ may be harmful.” The article went on to say, “The ‘It Gets Better’ video series, started in 2010 to combat LGBT teen suicide, may not be effective.”

Queerty’s headline asks, “It gets better … Or does it? Study finds anti-bullying catch phrase may do more harm than good.”

The study “examined 245 lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) young adults’ (ages 21-25) retrospective reports of coping in response to LGB minority stress during adolescence (ages 13- 19) to test the reliability and validity of a measure of minority stress coping.”

Three strategies common to LGB teens were identified: LGB-specific strategies (e.g., involvement with LGBT organizations), alternative-seeking strategies (e.g., finding new friends), and cognitive strategies (e.g., imagining a better future).

Cognitive-based strategies, such as the ‘It Gets Better’ approach, were associated with poorer adjustment and less likelihood of high school attainment.

University of Arizona professor Russell Toomey, who headed the study, told NewNow Next, “Our findings question the ’It Gets Better’ narrative that’s been given to LGB youth. Asking youth to accept negative experiences as the only coping strategy potentially exacerbates stress.”

Read here