TY - JOUR
T1 - Reexamining LGBT Resources on College Counseling Center Websites
T2 - An Over-time and Cross-country Analysis
AU - McKinley, Christopher J.
AU - Luo, Yi
AU - Wright, Paul J.
AU - Kraus, Ashley
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, © 2014 National Communication Association.
PY - 2015/1/2
Y1 - 2015/1/2
N2 - Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students continue to perceive a hostile climate on college campuses. For students facing these challenges, the university college counseling center website (CCW) may serve as a critical resource. This study provides an updated content analysis of the prevalence of LGBT communication on CCWs. Results showed that there remains a lack of LGBT-specific information about services provided on US CCWs. Furthermore, over-time analyses of 2008 and 2013 data showed that there have been no significant increases in any LGBT communication, and CCWs from religious schools continue to provide significantly less LGBT-related communication than nonreligious institutions. Separate analyses of UK CCWs showed that these websites were more likely than US CCWs to make any mention of LGBT issues but less likely to note group counseling services, links to LGBT-specific pamphlets, and educational outreach services offered. Overall, given attractive features of online health information, as well as the extent that students value CCWs, institutions must pursue stronger efforts to promote LGBT-related web counseling information.
AB - Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students continue to perceive a hostile climate on college campuses. For students facing these challenges, the university college counseling center website (CCW) may serve as a critical resource. This study provides an updated content analysis of the prevalence of LGBT communication on CCWs. Results showed that there remains a lack of LGBT-specific information about services provided on US CCWs. Furthermore, over-time analyses of 2008 and 2013 data showed that there have been no significant increases in any LGBT communication, and CCWs from religious schools continue to provide significantly less LGBT-related communication than nonreligious institutions. Separate analyses of UK CCWs showed that these websites were more likely than US CCWs to make any mention of LGBT issues but less likely to note group counseling services, links to LGBT-specific pamphlets, and educational outreach services offered. Overall, given attractive features of online health information, as well as the extent that students value CCWs, institutions must pursue stronger efforts to promote LGBT-related web counseling information.
KW - Counseling
KW - Information Seeking
KW - LGBT Resources
KW - Mental Health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84919844081&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00909882.2014.982681
DO - 10.1080/00909882.2014.982681
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84919844081
SN - 0090-9882
VL - 43
SP - 112
EP - 129
JO - Journal of Applied Communication Research
JF - Journal of Applied Communication Research
IS - 1
ER -
