Exploring Environmental Assets and Risks Experienced by Queer Teens in the U.S. and Canada Using Go-Along Interviews

Adolescents spend time between school, home, and community hangout spots, experiencing varying degrees of risk and protective factors in these environments. Understanding how LGBTQ teens perceive supports in their environments has potential to inform public health policies and interventions to address health and social disparities (e.g., substance use, HIV/sexual risk taking behaviors, bullying, mental health). Research has identified contextual factors associated with LGBTQ health, yet few studies have attempted to understand these factors from the teen’s perspective. This presentation will share successes and challenges encountered in this project, and highlight logistical, theoretical, and substantive lessons learned. Go-along interviewing, an approach in which the interviewer can move (e.g., walk, bus, car) with participants to see and experience their physical environments, is novel, yet to date has been underutilized with LGTBQ teens. Fifty LGTBQ teens (14-19 years) participated in Minnesota, Massachusetts, and British Columbia. As a multi-site study with LGBTQ youth- each with their own unique experiences- our approach used open-ended questions (e.g., If another LGBTQ friend was visiting you here and needed help with something or had a problem, where would you recommend they go to get care or support?; “What other places in your community make you feel safe?”) to elicit experiences from participants while respecting their safety, comfort and intimacy with the researchers. Some youth preferred using maps to show some resources rather than physically visiting them. Findings will benefit public health researchers committed to conducting inquiries that promote relevant policies supportive to the well-being of all LGBTQ teens.