A Review of Mental Health Interventions for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth and Adults

Abstract

Objective: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, particularly LGBT youth, are at higher risk for developing a mental illness compared to their straight and cis-gender peers. As such, the purpose of this review is to identify evaluated mental health interventions tailored for LGBT youth and adults. Method: A systematic review of peer reviewed articles related to mental health interventions in LGBT youth and adults was conducted for articles published before March 2018 via Ovid MEDLINE. In addition, a key word search of PubMed was conducted. In this review, four studies are examined, and two ongoing studies are noted. Articles were selected if they described an evaluated mental health intervention tailored for LGBT youth or adults. Results: Four interventions were identified that met inclusion criteria: one study on a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention for gender and sexual-minority youth, one attachment-based family therapy study adapted for suicidal lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth and their parents, one CBT intervention for young gay and bisexual men, and one expressive writing intervention for gay, male college students. In addition, two ongoing studies on interventions for LGB young adults were identified. Conclusion: There is a clear and concerning dearth of clinically evaluated mental health interventions for LGBT youth and adults, particularly of studies including transgender people, which should be viewed by researchers and clinicians as a call to action to address the mental health needs of LGBT youth and adults.