Richard Brandon-Friedman

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https://hdl.handle.net/1805/29764

Families in Transition: Development of a Therapeutic Group for Gender-Diverse Youth and Their Caregivers

Professor Richard Brandon-Friedman's academic research focuses on sexual and gender identity development among youth, youth sexual wellbeing, LGBTQ+ identity development, youth sexual behaviors, sexuality discourse within social work, and addressing sexuality within the child welfare system. Professor Brandon-Friedman has spent 15 years working with LGBTQ+ youth and their families in mentoring and clinical capacities. In 2015, he helped found the Riley Hospital Gender Health Program and has worked there clinically and as a researcher since that time.

He continually meets with community members, maintaining a list of needs they have identified. He also works with the community clinically, providing ongoing hands-on experience. When examining research opportunities, Professor Brandon-Friedman starts with the population that would be impacted, turning to the members of the population to see how their needs may fit within funding mechanisms. This grounds his research within community members’ experiences.

Families in Transition is a therapeutic support group designed to meet the needs of gender-diverse youth and their caregivers. Developed collaboratively with GenderNexus, GEKCO, PFLAG Fishers, and members of the gender-diverse community, the group will enhance the social and emotional well-being of participants through psychoeducation, skill development, familial relationship and communication building, and community connectedness.

Professor Brandon-Friedman's translation of community-engaged research into practices that promote health and well-being within the LGBTQ+ community is another excellent example of how IUPUI's faculty members are TRANSLATING their RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE.

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    The Impact of Sexual Identity Development on the Sexual Health of Youth Formerly in the Foster Care System
    (2019-02) Brandon-Friedman, Richard A.; Pierce, Barbara; Fortenberry, J. Dennis; Thigpen, Jeffrey; Wahler, Elizabeth
    Youth in the foster care system receive less sexual and reproductive health education, experience higher levels of negative sexual health outcomes, and engage in more risky sexual behaviors than peers not in the foster care system. Counteracting these concerns requires understanding the processes that contribute to these outcomes. A conceptual model interfacing traditional identity development theories and social constructionist theories of social sexualization was developed that posited sociosexual input factors of sexual education and socialization, sexual abuse history, and adverse childhood experiences affect youths’ sexual identity development, which then impacts youths’ level of sexual health. Hierarchical linear regression determined the level of impact of sexual socialization on sexual health within a sample of youth formerly in the foster care system (n = 219). Whether sexual identity development level mediated the relationship between sexuality-related discussions and sexual health was tested as well as how relationship quality moderates the effects of sexuality-related topic discussions on sexual identity development. Further analysis explored differences between the experiences of youth who identified as sexual minorities and their peers who identified as heterosexual. Results indicated that gender identity, sexual orientation, adverse childhood experiences, sexual abuse history, and sexuality-related discussions with foster parents and with peers all impact sexual health. All four dimensions of sexual identity development significantly contributed to sexual health outcomes. Mediation occurred with two of the four sexual identity development dimensions, whereas no moderation effects were indicated. Youth who identified as sexual minorities and youth who identified as heterosexual had significantly different scores on three of four sexual identity development dimensions and youth who identified as sexual minorities had worse sexual health outcomes. Results indicate the importance of the sexual identity development process on sexual health and that youths’ sexual orientation identity must be considered when designing interventions to improve sexual health outcomes.
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    Fostering, Forcing Choice
    (Columbia University Press, 2019) Brandon-Friedman, Richard A.; School of Social Work
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    Coming Out in Rural America: The Case of Emilio Hernandez
    (Oxford UP, 2018) Brandon-Friedman, Richard A.
    The following case vignette will takes the reader into to a rural, Hispanic, Catholic home in which both Emilio, a 17-year-old high school student, and his family are struggling with his sexual orientation, experimentation, and coming out process. As the case progresses, the school social worker and the Department of Child Services become involved and the word of family troubles spreads throughout the rural community. The challenges faced by Emilio and his family are explored, the importance of social capital in a rural community is demonstrated, and the efforts of professionals to intervene become evident.
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    The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Sexual Well-being among Youth Formerly in the Foster Care System
    (Child Welfare League of America, 2019) Brandon-Friedman, Richard A.; Fortenberry, J. Dennis; School of Social Work
    This study evaluates the impact of broad and singular measures of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and severity of sexual abuse on sexual well-being among youth formerly in the foster care system (YFFC). Divorce, alcohol/drug use within the home, the presence of mental illness or a family member suicide attempt, and sexual abuse severity increased odds of negative sexual outcomes and predicted lower sexual well-being. ACE levels negatively impacted outcomes but positively impacted sexual well-being. Research must move beyond summative ACE measures to examine the impact of types of ACEs and sexual abuse severity on sexual well-being and sexual health outcomes for YFFC.
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    Using Social Support Levels to Predict Sexual Identity Development Among College Students who Identify as a Sexual Minority
    (Taylor & Francis, 2016) Brandon-Friedman, Richard A.; Kim, Hea-Won; School of Social Work
    This study examined the impact of five domains of social support (a campus group for individuals who identify as a sexual minority, family, friends, significant others, and faith communities) on eight aspects of sexual minority identity development (identity uncertainty, internalized homonegativity, identity affirmation, acceptance concerns, identity superiority, concealment motivation, identity centrality, and difficulty in the identity development process). Support from a sexuality-specific campus group was the strongest predictor, followed by support from family members. Supports from friends and significant others had no significant impact on any aspect of sexual minority identity development, while faith community support was not correlated with identity development. Identifying as lesbian, bisexual, or as another sexual minority compared to identifying as gay also impacted sexual minority identity development.
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    Sexual health behaviors and outcomes among current and former foster youth: A review of the literature
    (Elsevier, 2016-05) Ramseyer Winter, Virginia; Brandon-Friedman, Richard A.; Ely, Gretchen E.; School of Social Work
    This review examines literature related to pregnancy, sexual health outcomes, and sexual risk behaviors for foster youth and youth who are aging/have aged out of foster care. Using the search terms foster youth, aging out, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, sexually transmitted infections, sexual risk, sexual behavior, and sexual health, 26,376 sources were initially identified. After removing duplicate sources and those that did not meet inclusion criteria and adding others identified through the references of identified sources, 53 sources were included in the review. Outcome measures were grouped into broad categories of pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and risky sexual behaviors, with each having several subparts. Implications for social work practice and policy are presented and directions for future research are highlighted.
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    A Grounded Theory of Veterans’ Experiences of Addiction-as-Occupation
    (Taylor & Francis, 2016) Wasmuth, Sally; Brandon-Friedman, Richard A.; Olesek, Kyle; School of Social Work
    This study examined how addiction emerges as an occupation in the lives of veterans. Its purpose was to facilitate better knowledge of how addiction is experienced as an occupation by this population, with the goal of destigmatizing addiction and paving the way for innovative ways to help people with addictions to build new occupational lives. Fifty-eight veterans diagnosed with a substance use disorder were recruited from a VA residential treatment center, of which 35 transcripts of the Indiana Psychiatric Illness Interview—a broad interview inquiring about participants’ life experiences—were randomly selected for grounded theory analysis following a 4-step coding procedure as outlined by Charmaz. Data revealed a five step occupational process: Being Initiated; Increasing Engagement; Establishing an Identity; Experiencing Discord and Defeat; and Finding Other Occupations. Addiction is discussed as a behavioral pattern, and the authors discuss how the use of new occupations may provide individuals with new patterns of organization, social interconnection, and identity development needed to sustain a move away from occupations of addiction.
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    Power, Deviance, Stigma, and Control: A Sociological Reconceptualization of Sexuality within Social Work Services
    (2017) Brandon-Friedman, Richard A.; School of Social Work
    Despite shared societal and historical origins, sociology and social work have had a contentious relationship, leading some to suggest the two disciplines are inherently incompatible. This article challenges that assertion by examining how sociological conceptions of deviance, power, stigma, and control can contribute to more just social work services, particularly in the contentious area of adolescent sexuality. As respected social agents, social workers can play a role in counteracting the forces that alienate outsiders. By understanding how sociological theories contribute to their ability to contest the social discourse regarding sexuality, social workers can challenge social norms and work with clients in a more socially just manner.
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    Youth Sexual Development: A Primer for Social Workers
    (Oxford, 2019) Brandon-Friedman, Richard A.; School of Social Work
    Sexuality and sexual expression are core aspects of most clients’ lives, yet most schools of social work fail to cover sexual development, leaving social workers uninformed about this essential area of human development. This is particularly the case when the sexual development of youths is concerned, as youth sexuality is often considered too controversial to explore. Considering a positive approach to youth sexuality that seeks to enhance youths’ sexual development and promote their achievement of full sexual and reproductive rights, this article seeks to provide social workers with a resource they can use to enhance their understanding of youth sexual development and its applicability to social work practice. The two main theoretical orientations used to understand sexual identity development are covered as well as the research support for each. Following the explanation of theory is a discussion of how the two theoretical orientations can be integrated to form a more expansive base for the understanding of sexual identity development. A final section provides guidance on how an advanced understanding of youthful sexual identity development can enhance social work practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.
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    Systematic review and meta-analysis of socio-cognitive and socio-affective processes association with adolescent substance use
    (2021) Winters, Drew; Brandon-Friedman, Richard A.; Yepes, Gabriel; Hinckley, Jesse D.
    Background: Social impairments are important features of a substance use disorder diagnosis; and recent models suggest early impairments in socio-cognitive and -affective processes may predict future use. However, no systematic reviews are available on this topic. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses exploring the association between social- cognitive and -affective processes (empathy, callous-unemotional (CU) traits, theory of mind, and social cognition) and substance use frequency (alcohol, cannabis, general drug use). We examined moderating effects of study design, gender, age, and weather conduct problems were controlled for. We also review brain studies related to social cognition and substance use disorder (SUD) risk. Results: Systematic review suggested a negative association for positively valenced constructs with substance use but mixed results on the negatively valenced construct CU traits. Meta-analyses revealed moderate positive association between CU traits with alcohol and general drug use but no significance with cannabis use. Moderate effect sizes were found for CU traits in youth predicting severity of substance use by late adolescence and significantly accounted for variance independently of conduct problems. Significant moderators included gender proportions, sample type, and age. Neuroimaging meta-analysis indicated 10 coordinates that were different in youth at a high risk/with SUD compared to controls. Three of these coordinates associate with theory of mind and social cognition. Conclusion: Socio-cognitive and -affective constructs demonstrate an association with current and future substance use, and neural differences are present when performing social cognitive tasks in regions with strongest associations with theory of mind and social cognition.