Reducing Transphobia Among Adolescents Through a Brief Video Intervention

Reducing Transphobia Among Adolescents Through a Brief Video Intervention

The purposes of this new study are to test among adolescent viewers the utility of brief video-based interventions to:

1. reduce transphobia;
2. reduce depression-related stigma and increase likelihood of treatment-seeking; and
3. examine the role of viewer's sex (male / female / non-binary), race (Black vs non-Black), and sexual orientation (straight vs LGBQ) as independent factors on the outcomes of interest.

Intervention videos will each be of ~100-second duration and feature four underage professionals (ages 16) acting as simulated patients. All videos will focus on an empowered presenter with depression sharing their personal story regarding depression. They will describe how social supports from family, friends, and community, as well as professional help assisted them in overcoming symptoms of the illness, as well as how being transgender may have had an impact on it. The four actors will include two males (one trans, one cis) and tow females (one trans, one cis).

Assessments will occur at baseline and post-intervention, and will include:

1. Demographics (baseline only);

2. Primary outcome:

   a. Attitudes toward Transgender Men and Women (ATTMW) scale.

3. Secondary outcome:

   1. Transgender attitudes: feelings thermometer, modeled after Norton et al 2013.
   2. Depression-related stigma (Depression Stigma Scale [DSS]);and
   3. Help-seeking (General Help-Seeking Questionnaire [GHSQ]).

For each of study we intend to randomly assign ~1,000 individuals aged 14-18 as follows:

Randomized, in equal proportions, and stratified by sex and race, to view one of four ~100-second videos:

1. Transgender male;
2. Cis-gender male);
3. Transgender female;
4. Cis-gender female.

Inclusion Criteria:

• English-speaking
• Living in the US
• Ages 14 - 18

Exclusion Criteria:

• None