Disparities Research and Workforce Webinar Series: Understanding Stigma and Discrimination as Drivers of Mental Health Disparities for Diverse, Rural, LGBTQ+ Communities

This webinar will introduce its goals and processes Rural Engagement and Approaches to LGBTQ+ Mental Health (REALM) study, which develops a longitudinal cohort of diverse LGBTQ+ adults residing in rural and small metropolitan communities across the United States.

Using a minority stress framework, REALM aims to determine the following: whether types of stigma, discrimination, and traumatic experiences differ among LGBTQ+ groups; how these exposures are associated with increased prevalence and incidence of depression, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. and whether and how proximal stress-related factors mediate and/or moderate these associations. Further, based on these findings, REALM will compare the relative acceptability of various technology-delivered intervention components for depression and suicide prevention for different rural LGBTQ+ communities.

Online recruitment and enrollment challenges and creative solutions will be shared, in addition to lessons learned on how to ensure participant safety. The webinar will conclude with a description of the cohort to date and share preliminary key findings related to the study objectives.

About the speakers

Sarah M. Murray, Ph.D., MSPH

Assistant Professor
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Department of Mental Health

Sarah M. Murray (she/her) is a psychiatric epidemiologist and assistant professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at John Hopkins University. Her main research interest is using mixed methods to understand the multifaceted relationship between violence, stigma and common mental disorders to develop effective strategies to promote the mental health and psychosocial well-being of people experiencing marginalization and/or living in complex situations. adversity in high-, middle-, and low-income countries. Much of her research focuses on better understanding and measuring the experiences of stigma among sexual adults and gender minorities. As principal investigator of the REALM study, Dr, Murray seeks to better understand how these experiences can lead to mental health disparities and what strengths-based and protective factors can contribute to positive mental health outcomes to inform intervention development .

Kirsten Siebach, MSW

NIMH Global Mental Health T32 Doctoral Fellow
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Department of International Health

Kirsten Siebach (she/they) is a third-year doctoral student in the Department of International Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. Kirsten’s research interests lie in the impact of the structural environment, including policies, laws, social attitudes and norms, on mental health and psychosocial well-being, especially in the LGBTQ+ community. Kirsten’s dissertation work will examine how structural stigma affects LGBTQ+ adults living in rural areas of the United States. Kirsten has a Masters in Social Work from Boston College School of Social Work. Collaborates with Mariah Valentine and Clinician Gina Baily Herring to implement the mental health safety protocol for the REALM study.

Mariah Valentine-Graves, MPH

Public Health Program Associate Emory University Rollins School of Public Health
Program, Research, Innovation in Sexual Minority Health (PRISM)

Mariah Valentine-Graves (her) received her BA in History and Political Science from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 2013, followed by her MA in Public Health in Behavioral Science and Education in health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in 2016. During her time at UCSD, she engaged in social justice work as an intern at both the UCSD LGBT Resource Center and the UCSD Women’s Center. During her time at Emory University, Mariah worked for two years as a graduate research assistant for the Women’s Interagency HIV Study at the Grady Infectious Disease Program. She has been working with PRISM Health as a public health program partner since 2016, coordinating Engage[men]t Study, a cohort study of men living with HIV in Atlanta. Directs participant-facing activities in the REALM study, including participant recruitment and retention.

About the Disparities and Workforce Research Webinar Series

The Office for Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity Webinar Series is designed for researchers conducting or interested in conducting research on mental health disparities, women’s mental health, minority mental health, and rural mental health.

Recording

This webinar is free, but registration is required .

Under the auspices

National Institute of Mental Health, Office on Workforce Disparities and Diversity Research

Contact

For questions, contact Beshaun Davis, Ph.D., Program Director, Research on Mental Health of Disadvantaged Populations, Office of Disparities and Workforce Diversity Research