JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Discrimination can greatly impact both physical and mental health due to frequent stressors. Younger individuals, particularly those under 17 years old, are more adversely affected by victimization. Within the European Union, Romania exhibits poor rankings concerning LGBT+ inclusion. Notably, half of Romanian respondents aged 15-17 have reported experiencing bullying due to their sexual orientation. Given that much of this discrimination and harassment occurs within schools, schoolteachers and counselors are vital in affecting institutional change.

Objective:

This study investigates the impact of an intervention on reducing prejudice against the LGBT community in Romanian schoolteachers and counselors. Most prior interventions of this nature target WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) populations.

Methods:

In this randomized control trial, we recruited 175 participants via a national closed online user group and assigned them to either the experimental or control condition. Participants in the experimental condition received the intervention first and then completed the web-based outcome measures, while those in the control condition completed the measures first and then received the intervention. The intervention, designed for internet-based delivery, consisted of a one-hour video session led by a pair of researchers. It blended educational information with testimonials of LGBT+ people, perspective-taking tasks, and a self-efficacy exercise. We measured LGBT prejudice using three scales (ATLG, HS, and ATH). As additional outcomes, we looked at behavioral intentions, self-efficacy, perspective taking, intergroup disgust sensitivity, intergroup anxiety, empathy, factual knowledge about LGBT issues, as well as participant’s feelings towards LGB individuals.

Results:

Participants in the experimental group (N=89) showed significant reductions in prejudice when using the ATLG Scale (F1,173=7.22, P=.008) when compared to the control group (N=86), but not when using the other two attitudinal scales. We also found that the experimental group had warmer feelings (F1,173=4.40, P=.037; d=0.32), were more likely to engage in supportive behaviors (F1,173=13.96, P<.001; d=0.56), displayed more self-efficacy (F1,173=9.14, P=.001; d=0.33), had more factual knowledge (F1,173=11.98, P=.001; d=0.52), and had a higher ability to take the LGBT+ perspective after controlling for contact (F1,172=4.77, P=.030; d=0.28). We did not observe significant differences in terms of Intergroup Disgust Sensitivity (F1,173=.816, P=.37), Intergroup Anxiety for either positive (F1,173=.383, P=.54) or negative emotions (F1,173=.51, P=.48), or empathy (F1,173=.02, P=.89).

Conclusions:

The intervention stands as a highly valuable and cost-effective resource for educators and high school counselors, particularly in regions where negative attitudes toward the LGBT+ community are prominent. The results show that a single one-hour online session, integrating blended cognitive (information), affective (indirect contact, perspective taking), and behavioral (self-efficacy, empowerment) recommendations, is sufficient in producing positive outcomes related to LGBT+ issues within the school environment. Clinical Trial: ISRCTN 84290049; https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN84290049