View in EDS

Exploring the Role of Telling Teachers about Identity-Based Harassment in Relation to Psychological Distress among a National Sample of Sexual and Gender Diverse Youth

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Exploring the Role of Telling Teachers about Identity-Based Harassment in Relation to Psychological Distress among a National Sample of Sexual and Gender Diverse Youth
Language: English
Authors: Peter S. McCauley (ORCID 0000-0001-8400-7311), Leah M. Lessard, Raymond L. Moody, Lisa A. Eaton, Ryan J. Watson
Source: School Psychology. 2026 41(3):315-328.
Availability: American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 14
Publication Date: 2026
Sponsoring Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DHHS)
Contract Number: K01DA047918
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Peer Relationship, Self Disclosure (Individuals), Adolescents, Victims, School Personnel, Stress Variables, Social Bias, LGBTQ People, Bullying, Psychological Patterns, Mental Health, Student Attitudes
DOI: 10.1037/spq0000726
ISSN: 2578-4218
2578-4226
Abstract: Extant research has explored factors that promote adolescents to seek help from school personnel when experiencing victimization. Yet, little is known about how reporting peer harassment to teachers and staff is associated with emotional distress among adolescents with stigmatized sexual and/or gender identities experiencing discriminatory harassment. The present study leveraged a large national sample of sexual and gender diverse youth who had experienced peer harassment in the past year (M[subscript age] = 15.44, SD = 1.36) and explored how talking with school personnel about harassment and perceptions of staff responses were associated with psychological distress. Structural equation modeling revealed that, over and above experiences of harassment, sexual and gender diverse youth who talked with school personnel about their experienced harassment tended to report lower levels of psychological distress (β = -0.07, p < 0.001); however, the protection provided by reporting harassment was dampened among students experiencing frequent gender-based harassment (β[subscript never reported] = 0.14, p < 0.001; β[subscript reported] = 0.22, p < 0.001). Among youth who had reported, perceived reporting effectiveness moderated the association between gender-based harassment and distress (β = -0.06, p = 0.03), such that sexual and gender diverse youth who experienced frequent gender-based harassment were less likely to report elevated psychological distress the more they felt that school personnel responded to their reports effectively. The associations between reporting experiences and psychological distress did not depend on sexuality- and gender-expression-based harassment (β = 0.04, p = 0.14; β = -0.00, p = 0.95). These findings highlight a need for school systems to cultivate effective responses among school personnel when students report their experiences with discriminatory harassment.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1507542
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: eric
DbLabel: ERIC
An: EJ1507542
AccessLevel: 3
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Exploring the Role of Telling Teachers about Identity-Based Harassment in Relation to Psychological Distress among a National Sample of Sexual and Gender Diverse Youth
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Peter+S%2E+McCauley%22&quot;&gt;Peter S. McCauley&lt;/searchLink&gt; (ORCID &lt;externalLink term=&quot;https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8400-7311&quot;&gt;0000-0001-8400-7311&lt;/externalLink&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Leah+M%2E+Lessard%22&quot;&gt;Leah M. Lessard&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Raymond+L%2E+Moody%22&quot;&gt;Raymond L. Moody&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Lisa+A%2E+Eaton%22&quot;&gt;Lisa A. Eaton&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Ryan+J%2E+Watson%22&quot;&gt;Ryan J. Watson&lt;/searchLink&gt;
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;SO&quot; term=&quot;%22School+Psychology%22&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;School Psychology&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/searchLink&gt;. 2026 41(3):315-328.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 14
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2026
– Name: SourceSuprt
  Label: Sponsoring Agency
  Group: SrcSuprt
  Data: National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DHHS)
– Name: NumberContract
  Label: Contract Number
  Group: NumCntrct
  Data: K01DA047918
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles&lt;br /&gt;Reports - Research
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Peer+Relationship%22&quot;&gt;Peer Relationship&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Self+Disclosure+%28Individuals%29%22&quot;&gt;Self Disclosure (Individuals)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Adolescents%22&quot;&gt;Adolescents&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Victims%22&quot;&gt;Victims&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22School+Personnel%22&quot;&gt;School Personnel&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Stress+Variables%22&quot;&gt;Stress Variables&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Social+Bias%22&quot;&gt;Social Bias&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22LGBTQ+People%22&quot;&gt;LGBTQ People&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Bullying%22&quot;&gt;Bullying&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Psychological+Patterns%22&quot;&gt;Psychological Patterns&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Mental+Health%22&quot;&gt;Mental Health&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Student+Attitudes%22&quot;&gt;Student Attitudes&lt;/searchLink&gt;
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1037/spq0000726
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 2578-4218&lt;br /&gt;2578-4226
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Extant research has explored factors that promote adolescents to seek help from school personnel when experiencing victimization. Yet, little is known about how reporting peer harassment to teachers and staff is associated with emotional distress among adolescents with stigmatized sexual and/or gender identities experiencing discriminatory harassment. The present study leveraged a large national sample of sexual and gender diverse youth who had experienced peer harassment in the past year (M[subscript age] = 15.44, SD = 1.36) and explored how talking with school personnel about harassment and perceptions of staff responses were associated with psychological distress. Structural equation modeling revealed that, over and above experiences of harassment, sexual and gender diverse youth who talked with school personnel about their experienced harassment tended to report lower levels of psychological distress (β = -0.07, p &lt; 0.001); however, the protection provided by reporting harassment was dampened among students experiencing frequent gender-based harassment (β[subscript never reported] = 0.14, p &lt; 0.001; β[subscript reported] = 0.22, p &lt; 0.001). Among youth who had reported, perceived reporting effectiveness moderated the association between gender-based harassment and distress (β = -0.06, p = 0.03), such that sexual and gender diverse youth who experienced frequent gender-based harassment were less likely to report elevated psychological distress the more they felt that school personnel responded to their reports effectively. The associations between reporting experiences and psychological distress did not depend on sexuality- and gender-expression-based harassment (β = 0.04, p = 0.14; β = -0.00, p = 0.95). These findings highlight a need for school systems to cultivate effective responses among school personnel when students report their experiences with discriminatory harassment.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
  Group: Ab
  Data: As Provided
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2026
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1507542
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1507542
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1037/spq0000726
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 14
        StartPage: 315
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Peer Relationship
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Self Disclosure (Individuals)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Adolescents
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Victims
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: School Personnel
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Stress Variables
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social Bias
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: LGBTQ People
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Bullying
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychological Patterns
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mental Health
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student Attitudes
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Exploring the Role of Telling Teachers about Identity-Based Harassment in Relation to Psychological Distress among a National Sample of Sexual and Gender Diverse Youth
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Peter S. McCauley
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Leah M. Lessard
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Raymond L. Moody
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Lisa A. Eaton
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Ryan J. Watson
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 05
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 2578-4218
            – Type: issn-electronic
              Value: 2578-4226
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 41
            – Type: issue
              Value: 3
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: School Psychology
              Type: main
ResultId 1