Doctoral Dissertation Research: Medicalization During Adolescence: Perspectives of Parents, Doctors and Youth

博士论文研究：青春期医疗化：父母、医生和青少年的视角

• 批准号: 2001800
• 负责人: Krista Brumley
• 金额: $ 1.58万
• 依托单位: Wayne State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-05-01 至 2022-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2001800&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Medicalization; During

Since 2010, there has been a rapid increase in children who seek medical and psychological services related to the stress they experience regarding the nonconformity between their assigned sex at birth (male or female) and how they experience their gender in daily life (male, female, both, or neither), also known as gender dysphoria. There has been significant concern about the mental health of these youth, especially concerning the risk of adverse mental health events, including suicide. However, research shows that when nonconforming adolescents are well-supported, they have similar levels of depression to other adolescents. For such adolescents who seek medical intervention, these support systems may include parents as advocates and/or healthcare professionals who specialize in serving them. In these cases, decisions about steps towards intervention are made between the adolescents, their parents, as well as the physicians. Findings from this in-depth interview study will help inform healthcare professionals about ways in which medical services can improve for these adolescents. This research will also provide information for families and other stakeholders about how to advance the health and wellbeing of adolescents. This project provides a platform for adolescents to describe their lived experiences, which can benefit the medical field and families that need their expertise.Studying gender non-conforming adolescents provides researchers with the opportunity to analyze the processes that contribute to the creation of their identities. This project will explain how non-conforming adolescents who receive medical interventions address the complexity of their identities. Data collection involves 60 in-depth, semi-structured face-to-face interviews with three groups: 20 non-conforming adolescents, 20 parents of such adolescents, and 20 physicians who work with such adolescents. Participants in this study will be identified through a combination of personal contacts and snowball sampling. Interview questions with physicians include exploring reasons for approving or denying medical services to adolescents, how they help facilitate discussions between parents and adolescents, and ways in which healthcare for these adolescents can be improved. Interviews with the parents focus on their child’s behaviors and interactions with doctors. Questions with the adolescents will probe for reasons behind their decisions to seek information about medical intervention and their experiences with this process. Interview data will be subjected to open coding to derive themes present in the data using NVIVO to manage transcripts and data analysis. This project addresses the gap in our knowledge on the behaviors and beliefs of non-conforming adolescents and will provide insight into medical technologies to support them. Findings will also inform sociological theories related to gender and social identities, particularly for adolescents as they transition to adulthood.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

自2010年以来，寻求医疗和心理服务的儿童人数迅速增加，因为他们在出生时的性别（男性或女性）与他们在日常生活中如何体验自己的性别（男性、女性、两者都有或两者都没有）之间的不一致所带来的压力，也被称为性别不安症。人们对这些青年的心理健康，特别是对包括自杀在内的不良心理健康事件的风险表示严重关切。然而，研究表明，当不守规矩的青少年得到良好的支持时，他们的抑郁程度与其他青少年相似。对于这些寻求医疗干预的青少年，这些支持系统可能包括作为倡导者的父母和/或专门为他们服务的保健专业人员。在这些情况下，有关干预步骤的决定是由青少年、他们的父母和医生共同作出的。这项深入访谈研究的结果将有助于告知医疗保健专业人员如何改善这些青少年的医疗服务。这项研究还将为家庭和其他利益攸关方提供有关如何促进青少年健康和福祉的信息。该项目为青少年提供了一个描述其生活经历的平台，这有利于需要他们专业知识的医疗领域和家庭。研究性别不一致的青少年为研究人员提供了一个机会来分析他们身份形成的过程。这个项目将解释接受医疗干预的不符合标准的青少年如何处理他们身份的复杂性。数据收集包括60个深入的、半结构化的面对面访谈，访谈对象包括三组：20名不守规矩的青少年、20名这类青少年的父母和20名为这类青少年服务的医生。本研究的参与者将通过个人接触和滚雪球抽样的结合来确定。与医生的访谈问题包括探讨批准或拒绝向青少年提供医疗服务的原因，这些服务如何有助于促进父母与青少年之间的讨论，以及如何改善对这些青少年的医疗保健。对父母的访谈主要关注孩子的行为和与医生的互动。与青少年的问题将探讨他们决定寻求医疗干预信息背后的原因以及他们在这一过程中的经历。访谈数据将进行开放式编码，以使用NVIVO管理转录本和数据分析，得出数据中存在的主题。这个项目填补了我们对不符合标准的青少年的行为和信仰的知识空白，并将为支持他们的医疗技术提供见解。研究结果还将为与性别和社会认同有关的社会学理论提供信息，特别是对于正在向成年过渡的青少年。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。