Aidan D. Kraus

In order to maintain the historical promise that sport builds relatedness and connection among people, we must consider how marginalized and underrepresented groups such as the LGBTQIA+ community understand and experience a sense of belonging within athletic environments. Examples of LGBTQIA+ discrimination in sport-including gender segregation, gender expression conformity, homophobia, and transphobia-are highlighted through personal stories at each developmental stage of my athletic career; this serves to lay the groundwork for how a queer person like me might experience the world of sport. In order to better understand these lived truths, I discuss the works of several authors who first introduced me to the role of gender identity ideology in society and sport. The importance of LGBTQIA+ athletes feeling a sense of belonging through sport is examined through Allen and colleagues’ (2021) integrative framework for increasing belonging through four main components: (1) competencies for belonging, (2) opportunities to belong, (3) motivators to belong, and (4) perceptions of belonging. I end the chapter with reflection questions which organizations can use to assess what they are doing and what they can do to increase a sense of belonging for LGBTQIA+ athletes within their environment, at all levels of play.

This qualitative study explored how 249 transgender and non-binary (TNB) adolescents (ages 14–18) described salient supports in their lives, and ways in which key social-ecological contexts could better support TNB adolescents’ wellbeing. Participants were recruited through social media, and completed online surveys; all study procedures were approved by the Boston University Institutional Review Board. Most (84.7%) participants identified as White, and as sexual minorities (96.4%). Modified consensual qualitative research (CQR-M) methods were used to examine TNB adolescents’ responses to two questions: “In your life, which people, if any, would you describe as most supportive, and why?” and “What can individuals/groups within families, schools, and communities do to best support the well-being of transgender and non-binary adolescents?” Results indicated that the most common source of support for TNB participants was peers, followed by family members. Participants also highlighted the centrality of supportive environments that offer access to resources, as well as support derived through policies and practices that reduce stigma. Collectively, results have implications for how individuals and systems can foster wellbeing among TNB adolescents.

In Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, Cheadle and Kuzma (2019) describe that, despite the commonality and frequency of injury within sports participation, many a...

This study explored depression, anxiety, and help-seeking at a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III historically women’s college in the United States, while taking into account gender identities outside of male and female. An online survey including the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, and help-seeking measures were completed by 109 student-athletes. Participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 22. Within the sample, 59.7% of participants identified as LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, among other identities) and 8.3% identified as genderqueer/gender-nonconforming. A total of 33.0% of the participants reported symptoms of depression, while 28.5% reported symptoms of anxiety. Genderqueer/gender-nonconforming athletes reported higher rates of anxiety than athletes who identified as women. Higher rates of depression and anxiety were related to higher levels of formal help-seeking. The results indicate that student-athletes at a historically women’s college may be experiencing higher levels of depression and anxiety than student-athletes in other contexts and have more positive views toward help-seeking. Student-athletes who identify outside of the gender binary may be at higher risk for anxiety.

This study examines the effectiveness of a financial literacy program, Invest in Girls (IIG), in promoting financial capability among high school girls. Using a quasi-experimental separate-samples pretest-posttest design and a longitudinal qualitative study, the study aims to assess the program efficacy and investigate the perspectives of the female students on its impact on their knowledge, behavior, and future goals and aspirations. The results indicated that the participants had significantly higher confidence for engaging in financial literacy after the program. The findings from the longitudinal study also suggested that that the program was influencing the students in positive ways, increasing their financial capability and leading them to consider wide occupational pathways available in finance. Given the lack of female leaders in the world of finance, the IIG program aims to address gender disparity in financial knowledge and highlight the importance of building financial literacy skills among girls.