670 - Gender Expression and Exploration: A Pilot Support Group Series for Gender Diverse Youth and Their Parents

Publication Number: 4656.670

Tess Jewell, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, United States; Carson M. Borbely, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, United States; MJ Gour, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, United States

Background: Gender-diverse youth face a myriad of stressors and health disparities in the United States. State-level legislation limits access to gender-affirming care for youth and threatens their well-being further with bills that negatively impact day-to-day life (e.g., restrictions on bathroom use, sports participation, and correct name and pronoun use). Medical providers, especially those working in pediatrics, must identify creative ways to support gender-diverse youth and their families amidst this stressful and challenging period, especially as medical management options are under threat.

Objective: A team of providers at our institution sought to adapt an approach established elsewhere to serve families in our area. We aimed to develop a support space to facilitate exploration of non-medical gender expression for gender-diverse youth and their parents/guardians. With this abstract and presentation, we aim to share the composition of our pilot program with results from evaluations to help other institutions consider how this type of programming may supplement the care they provide for gender-diverse youth.

Design/Methods: We developed and piloted a 4-week support group series for gender-diverse youth ages 11-14 years and one of their parents/guardians. Programming was developed based on the expertise of the providers facilitating the support group, including those with experience in gender-affirming care, mental health, and support groups. Participants completed questionnaires at the beginning and end of the 4-week support group series, and at the end of each session.

Results: The following topics were covered in the 4-week pilot program: 1. Gender Expression: Understanding your own gender to support your child's gender; 2. Creativity & Self-portrait: Making collages of how the world sees us and how we see ourselves; 3. Assertive Communication: What is it, and how do we use it?; 4. Wrapping it all up: time and space to process and share. Nine youth and their parent/guardian participated in the support group series. On average, all sessions were rated highly by youth and their parents/guardians (Figures 1 and 2). Open-ended responses on the survey at the end of the support group series demonstrated the importance of the community established through the support group series.

Conclusion(s): Our pilot project suggests that our gender expression support group may be a feasible and accessible way to support gender-diverse youth and their parents/guardians in the midst of a tenuous political climate that threatens the rights of their gender-diverse family members, including access to medical care.

Figure 1: Participant Rating of Weekly Sessions
On average, youth and parents/guardians rated sessions between "good" and "very good" (evaluated on a scale of 1-5, 1 being "very bad" and 5 being "very good).

Figure 2: Participant Rating on Whether each Weekly Session Should be Repeated in Future Group Series
On average, youth and parents/guardians reported that these sessions should be repeated in the future (evaluated on a scale of 1-5, 1 being "definitely should not do" and 5 being "definitely should do").