Time to reconsider those “It Gets Better” videos?
Video narratives – e.g. “It Gets Better” – that bear positive messages for LGBTQIA people may have positive effects; but these effects are small and short-lived.
This is according to a study – “Effects of ‘It Gets Better’ Suicide Prevention Videos on Youth Identifying as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, or Other Sexual or Gender Minorities: A Randomized Controlled Trial” – that appeared in LGBT Health.
For this study, the authors – Stefanie Kirchner, Benedikt Till, Martin Plöderl, and Thomas Niederkrotenthaler – conducted a double-blind randomized controlled trial on-site in Austria and online in German-language settings from January to November 2020 with LGBTQ+ youth (14–22 years; n = 483), randomized to an IGBP (n = 242) or control video (n = 241). Suicidal ideation (primary outcome), help-seeking intentions, hopelessness, mood, and sexual identity were assessed at baseline (T1), postexposure (T2), and 4-week follow-up (T3). We assessed differences among gender identities, sexual orientations, with regard to depressive symptoms, and the role of identification. Data were analyzed with linear mixed models and mediation analysis.
The study found that:
- there was no overall effect on suicidal ideation, but nonbinary/transgender individuals experienced a small-sized improvement;
- postexposure, there was an indirect preventive effect on suicidal ideation through the degree of identification with the protagonist in the video; and
- there was improvement in help-seeking intentions in the intervention group.
The researchers concluded, nonetheless, that while “video narratives featuring coping might have some potential to decrease suicidal ideation and encourage help-seeking among vulnerable youth identifying with videos”, the actual “effects are small and short-lived.”
