APF Research Roundup: LGBTQIA+ Physical & Mental Health

Megan Herdt, PhD (she/her)
University of Kentucky
2025 Bruce and Jane Walsh Grant in Memory of John Holland

Project Title
Work Conditions and Health Outcomes for LGBTQ+ Workers Amidst Sociopolitical Threats: A Longitudinal Study

Research Summary
My research program broadly investigates ways that systems of privilege, power, and oppression intersect to shape workers’ vocational experiences with implications for their vocational and general wellbeing. I use social justice-oriented frameworks such as the Psychology of Working Theory and critical intersectional feminism to study access to quality work and impacts of work conditions on wellbeing and health. My goals are to promote access to better work for more people, to challenge oppression and exploitation within the world of work, and to contribute to a liberatory world of work that prioritizes wellbeing over profit. 

Katie Edwards, PhD (she/her)
University of Michigan School of Social Work
2025 Wayne F. Placek Grant

Project Title
Pilot Evaluation of an Online Mentorship Program to Prevent Adversities among Trans and Gender Minority Youth

Research Summary
This project studies how a mentoring program called the Teen Connection Project supports the health and well-being of transgender and gender diverse youth. We focus on understanding how supportive relationships with mentors help reduce stress caused by discrimination and improve mental and behavioral health outcomes. Using information shared by youth and mentors, we examine which parts of the program are most helpful and why. The findings will help strengthen programs that create safer, more affirming environments for transgender and gender diverse young people.

Maggi A. Price, PhD (she/her)
Boston College School of Social Work
2025 Direct Action Crisis Funding Grant

Project Title
Implementation of a School-Based Prevention Intervention and Training to Promote Adolescent Mental Health Equity

Research Summary
Transgender adolescents face a disproportionately high risk for serious mental health problems largely attributable to discrimination in multiple places, including at school. In response, Dr. Maggi Price’s Affirm Lab developed Gender-Affirming School Practices (GASP) and an accompanying online training (GASP-T), created in partnership with transgender youth and school staff. This project aims to refine and scale this school-based prevention intervention and pilot it through a structured implementation trial to improve mental health outcomes for transgender students.

More than 1,000 staff across six Massachusetts high schools had committed to implementing this training, but the termination of federal funding brought those efforts to a halt. Through the Direct Action Crisis Funding Grants, Dr. Price and her team will continue delivering a high-quality, evidence-based training program designed to reduce prejudice, stigma, and violence and prevent mental health problems among transgender youth.

Ananya Bhaktaram (she/her)
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
2025 Wayne F. Placek Grant

Project Title
“Exploring Place-Based and Social Stressors Shaping Mental Health and Comorbid HIV outcomes among Black LGBTQIA+ Individuals in Baltimore, MD

Research Summary
Individuals who identify as both Black and queer experience depression at a rate that is 2-3 times higher than the general U.S. population. Racial and sexual minorities are more susceptible to experiencing depression, as they report having fewer social interactions and weaker social networks making it harder to cope with negative social and environmental experiences. In addition to psychological distress, social isolation and loneliness can lead to physical and biological changes within the body, which can accelerate HIV and other chronic health conditions like heart disease. This study uses a combination of visual maps and in-depth interviews to examine both social and spatial influences may contribute to loneliness and social isolation in order to develop more effective mental health interventions for Black LGBTQIA+ individuals in the United States.

Gabriela López, PhD (she/her)
Rhode Island Hospital
2025 Direct Action Crisis Funding Grant

Project Title
Event-level Antecedents of Heavy Drinking Among Bisexual+ and Heterosexual Women With and Without Histories of Sexual Assault

Research Summary
Bisexual women have the highest rates of sexual violence and alcohol use relative to heterosexual women. Our APF funded work includes analyzing interview data from 50 bisexual and heterosexual women and their alcohol use. We specifically asked women about experiences of microaggressions, psych distress (anxiety, depression) and reasons for drinking. Women in our study had a history of sexual violence and we also asked women to share how this history may have impact their current alcohol use. We are hoping to inform an intervention that will help reduce sexual violence and alcohol use among bisexual women.