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CURRENT AND FUTURE SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS’ PREPAREDNESS TO WORK WITH LGBT STUDENTS: ROLE OF EDUCATION AND GAY‐STRAIGHT ALLIANCES
Author(s) -
Arora Prerna G.,
Kelly Jennifer,
Goldstein Thalia R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/pits.21942
Subject(s) - preparedness , transgender , lesbian , psychology , school psychology , homosexuality , medical education , alliance , pedagogy , social psychology , medicine , political science , psychoanalysis , law
This study sought to assess current and future school psychologists’ attitudes toward and preparedness to address the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students in schools. Two‐hundred seventy‐nine school psychologists ( n = 162, 58%) and school psychology graduate students ( n = 117, 42%) were included in the study. Participants completed measures of attitudes toward LGBT students, preparedness to address the needs of LGBT youth, and social desirability. For both school psychologists and graduate students, increased education was associated with improved attitudes and increased preparedness to treat LGBT youth. For school psychologists, presence of a gay‐straight alliance was associated with increased knowledge about LGBT youth, as well as higher ratings of preparedness to treat LGBT youth; the same associations did not hold true for the graduate students. These findings have implications for the training and practice of school psychologists in addressing the needs of LGBT youth in schools.