Lay summary
Rainbow youth in Aotearoa experience health-sectored defined mental health challenges (e.g., depression, anxiety, suicidality) at a higher rate than their cisgender, heterosexual peers, and more than half report negative, invalidating experiences with mental health providers. The aim of this project is to develop an affirming mental health intervention for Rainbow youth and their whānau that is responsive to both the unique challenges facing this population (e.g., discrimination, coming out) and the unique cultural context of Aotearoa New Zealand complemented with tikanga Māori. We will run a series of focus groups with Rainbow youth, their whānau, staff from Rainbow organisations, alongside clinicians and experts (including tikanga, psychology and whakawhanaungatanga) to guide the cultural adaptation of a US-based treatment (LGBTQ-affirmative cognitive behaviour therapy) for use in Aotearoa. We will then test the revised group intervention with 16-20 Rainbow youth and their whānau in Wellington, and share our research findings with national stakeholders.