Lessons Learned from LGBTQ plus Youths' Experience in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Phenomenological Investigation

Although studies have documented stressors LGBTQ + persons experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, this phenomenological analysis investigates their experience within a minority stress framework, documenting how LGBTQ + youth described their experience in the pandemic, how they coped, and how their mental health was impacted. Researchers used interpretive phenomenological inquiry, which aims to understand culture-specific communities' unique lived experiences through critical, comprehensive investigation. Researchers facilitated virtual semi-structured interviews with (N = 20) LGBTQ + youth, ages 12-18 years old from the USA in April and May of 2020. Methods involved developing a qualitative codebook, establishing at least 80% interrater reliability in coding, and implementing coder drift and consensus methods. Findings indicate that LGBTQ + youth perceived improved well-being when they also reported being more introverted, feeling less bothered by transitioning online for school, perceiving their in-person experiences as consisting of bullying or disingenuous friendships, or when their coping strategies protected against the adverse impact of stressors. Conversely, LGBTQ + youth endorsed experiencing exacerbated mental health concerns when they reported living with disaffirming families, having less access to their critical in-person supports, being an extrovert, or lacking coping skills that adequately protected against stress. Within the minority stress framework, LGBTQ + youth specifically discussed how living with disaffirming families leads to youth hiding their authentic selves, experiencing increased stress, and finding compensatory support online. Implications for school psychologists provide strategies that celebrate LGBTQ + youths' established resilience, facilitate access to supports, and encouragement of healthy online habits that can compensate for stressful experiences.