The Importance of a Supportive School Climate on the Mental Health of Sexual and Gender Minority Students

In the past decade, adolescent mental health has become a prominent issue in America. Specifically, rates of mental illness among sexual and gender minority adolescents are increasing at rates higher than those of cisgender-heterosexual adolescents. As this issue has progressed, much literature has placed focus on the different stressors that may cause and exacerbate it. Through the lens of minority stress theory, this literature review seeks to understand how the factors that construct a school climate act as stressors on the mental health of LGBTQ+ students. After a brief introduction to this topic, there will be discussion on the social environment of a school describing how factors like bullying, student organizations, and faculty interactions play a part in creating both supportive and unsupportive school climates. Then, services directly provided by schools will be addressed to explain their impact on the mental health of sexual and gender minority students. This review concludes with discussions of findings and suggestions for future research. This is followed by an analysis of current policies that promote a negative school climate for sexual and gender minority students