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New Research Alert! 🧠✨
A new study, co-authored by School of Social Work Assistant Research Professor Samantha Lawrence, used network analysis to better understand what puts LGBTQ+ youth at risk for mental health struggles—and what helps protect them.

📊 With data from over 24,000 students in Minnesota, the study revealed:

❗ Bias-based bullying (like bullying related to gender identity, sexual orientation, or race) is one of the most damaging and central risk factors for LGBTQ+ youth mental health.
🚭 Substance use is also strongly linked to poorer outcomes.
🛡️ On the flip side, school safety and feelings of empowerment were powerful protective factors.

🔍 This means:
✅ We need to prioritize anti-bullying efforts—especially those focused on identity-based harassment.
✅ Early mental health support matters.
✅ Creating safe, empowering school environments can make a huge difference.

Samantha Lawrence also is the research and evaluation director and co-Principal Investigator for the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood—UConn School of Social Work Partnership. She’s an expert on mental and behavioral health among LGBTQ+ youth and youth with other marginalized social positions. 💜🩵💙

#uconnsww #LGBTQcommunity ...

🗳️ Have you registered to vote?
📅 Today (Sept. 16) is National Voter Registration Day!
Several UConn students, in coordination with the School of Social Work’s Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work, are hosting two voter registration drives at the Hartford Times Building Atrium:

✅ Tuesday, Sept. 16 — 8 a.m. to noon.
✅ Wednesday, Sept. 17 — 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
🙌 The School of Social Work requires every first-year student to participate in voter engagement and register at least three voters.

🗳️💙 Don’t miss your chance to get registered and make your voice heard!
#VoterRegistration #NationalVoterRegistrationDay #SocialWork #UConnHartford #uconnssw ...

👏 UConn School of Social Work Associate Professor Caitlin Elsaesser is the co-author of a new publication: “Leveraging the power of a community-engaged framework to examine youth perspectives on stress among Hartford Black and Latine youth.”

Published in an August 2025 issue of Children and Youth Services Review, this study uplifts the voices of Hartford youth through a community-based participatory research approach in partnership with Compass Youth Collaborative (CYC).

The research highlights how young people experience stress in the wake of COVID-19. By centering youth perspectives, the study calls for intergenerational and early interventions to better address stress and trauma in marginalized communities.

📖 Read the full article at: https://ow.ly/xUvj50WWKaP ...

School of Social Work doctoral student Fizza Saghir and SSW alumnus Fernando Valenzuela ’24 (MSW) presented their study, “Climate Change Crisis and Eco-Anxiety: Comparing Perspectives of the Global North and the Global South Young Adults Based in Connecticut,” during the 2025 Connecticut Symposium on Climate Change and Health Sept. 10 at Yale University.

Their findings highlight “the need for social workers to identify and incorporate an intersectional approach, a decolonial lens, and an international perspective to address the climate crisis, considering the nuances of power and privilege, climate coloniality, and unequal historical responsibility of the Global North,” Valenzuela explains.

#uconnssw #socialwork #uconn ...

Have you visited the UConn School of Social Work`s Student Lounge? 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️

Equipped with multiple tables, desks, computers, a kitchenette, and even an espresso machine—the Student Lounge is the perfect spot to gather, study, and collaborate! Come check it out! Located at the School`s garden level. 😃

#uconnSSW #studentlounge ...