Evaluation of State-Level Sexual and Gender Minority Laws for the Primary Prevention of Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth in the U.S.

Conditions

• Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)
• Sexual Violence

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

13 Years - 18 Years

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• Enumerated anti-bullying state legislation — OTHER
  The interventions in this study are being studied as a natural experiment and are not assigned or implemented by the study. In any given cohort year, some states are exposed to the legislation of interest and others are not, as assessed using data from LawAtlas.org and categorized by the research team. Enumerated anti-bullying state legislation is state-level legislation that prohibits bullying in educational settings and that explicitly includes sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes.
• Conversion therapy state legislation — OTHER
  The interventions in this study are being studied as a natural experiment and are not assigned or implemented by the study. In any given cohort year, some states are exposed to the legislation of interest and others are not, as assessed using data from LawAtlas.org and categorized by the research team. Conversion therapy state legislation is state-level legislation that prohibits the practice of conversion therapy, a practice that attempts to change a person/client's sexual orientation or gender identity to conform to prevailing cisgender and/or heterosexual norms.
• Gender-affirming care state legislation — OTHER
  The interventions in this study are being studied as a natural experiment and are not assigned or implemented by the study. In any given cohort year, some states are exposed to the legislation of interest and others are not, as assessed using data from LawAtlas.org and categorized by the research team. Gender-affirming care state legislation is state-level legislation regarding the use of healthcare tailored to support the patient's gender identity (may prohibit or protect the right to use this type of healthcare)

Study Details

The goal of this observational study is to learn how state-level laws related to sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth affect the risk of sexual violence (SV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) among sexual minority (SM) youth in the United States. The study looks at both supportive laws (such as bans on conversion therapy and anti-bullying protections) and restrictive laws (such as limits on gender-affirming care) passed between 2017 and 2025. The main questions it aims to answer are: Part 1: * Do supportive SGM laws lower the risk of SV/IPV among SM youth? * Do restrictive SGM laws raise the risk of SV/IPV among SM youth? * Does the social climate in a state (such as levels of stigma toward SGM people) change how these laws affect SM youth? Part 2: -How do SGM youth themselves describe the ways that laws and social climates affect their safety and wellbeing? Part 1 - Quantitative analysis: Researchers will use existing, publicly available survey data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) to compare changes in SV/IPV risk among SM youth across states that adopted different types of SGM laws over the period of 2017-2025. No participants are enrolled for this part. Part 2 - Qualitative interviews: Researchers will conduct one-on-one interviews with approximately 30 SGM youth ages 13-18 living across U.S. states with varying levels of adoption of supportive SGM laws. Each youth will take part in one 60-minute interview. Youth will be asked about their views on how laws and social climates affect safety, stigma, and access to resources. Youth will not be asked to share personal experiences of violence.

Key Dates

First listed

Jul 27, 2026

Start date

Aug 31, 2026

Status verified

Jul 2026

Primary completion

Sep 30, 2027

Completion

Sep 30, 2029

Study Design

Enrollment

30 participants (estimated)

Arms

• Arm: YRBSS state-representative cohort 2017
  First year of primary analytic population for quantitative analyses examining the effect of state-level SGM law adoption on SV/IPV risk (Aims 1-2).
• Arm: YRBSS state-representative cohort 2019
  Second year of primary analytic population for quantitative analyses examining the effect of state-level SGM law adoption on SV/IPV risk (Aims 1-2).
• Arm: SGM Youth Interview Participants
  Sexual and gender minority youth ages 13-18 enrolled for one-on-one qualitative interviews exploring perceptions of how state-level policies and social climates affect safety, stigma, and access to resources (Aim 3).
• Arm: YRBSS state-representative cohort 2021
  Third year of primary analytic population for quantitative analyses examining the effect of state-level SGM law adoption on SV/IPV risk (Aims 1-2).
• Arm: YRBSS state-representative cohort 2023
  Fourth year of primary analytic population for quantitative analyses examining the effect of state-level SGM law adoption on SV/IPV risk (Aims 1-2).
• Arm: YRBSS state-representative cohort 2025
  Fifth year of primary analytic population for quantitative analyses examining the effect of state-level SGM law adoption on SV/IPV risk (Aims 1-2).

Primary Outcome Measure

Past 12-Month Sexual Violence Victimization [ Time Frame: Past 12 months at each biennial YRBSS survey administration (repeated cross-sectional assessments from 2017 to 2025) ]

Central Contacts

• Sabrina C Boyce, PhD
  916-709-1123
  [email protected]
• Ricardo B Vera Monroy, MS
  619-277-8303
  [email protected]

Locations (1)

Find similar trials in Berkeley, CA

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