Dr. Heather Littleton (Director of Research Operations of the Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience and Associate Professor) has several active research initiatives related to EDI.  She is PI, Co-PI, and Co-I on multiple collaborative intervention projects focused on fostering positive identity and support and preventing intimate partner violence and substance use among LGBTQIA2S+ youth. Specifically, she is currently PI on an NIAAA funded grant to develop and evaluate an online family-based intimate partner violence and alcohol use prevention program for LGBTQIA2S+ youth, and Co-PI with Dr. Katie Edwards of University of Nebraska Lincoln on another NIAAA funded grant to evaluate a youth only online intimate partner violence and alcohol use prevention program for LGBTQIA2S+ youth. She is also a co-investigator on a William T. Grant foundation grant led by Dr. Katie Edwards focused on evaluating an online version of the Family Acceptance Project for LGBTQIA2S+ youth of color, an evidence-informed intervention for caregivers of LGBTQIA2S+ youth focused on developing caregivers’ acceptance and advocacy for their youth.

In addition to her work on interventions for LGBTQIA2S+ youth, she also is Co-PI with Dr. Katie Edwards on a recently completed National Science Foundation funded grant that sought to evaluate a novel multilevel sexual stigma model of intimate partner violence risk among LGBQ+ college students. This project sought to examine how sexual stigma operating at both structural (e.g., campus policies, initiatives, resources) and individual (e.g., faculty/staff and student discriminatory beliefs and behaviors) levels affects risk for intimate partner violence among sexual minority (LGBQ+) college students. Additionally, Dr. Littleton served as a member of the Sexual Experiences Survey Victimization (SES V) Revision Collaboration from 2021 to 2023.  The primary focus of this collaborative was to develop a new version of the Sexual Experiences Survey, the gold standard measure for assessing adult sexual victimization, including ensuring that the new version of the measure was more inclusive of the experiences of sexual and gender minority individuals.

Dolezal, M., Decker, M., Littleton, H., & Higgins, M. (in press). Evaluation of the gender minority stress model in transgender and gender diverse college students. Journal of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.

Dolezal, M., Decker, M., & Littleton, H. (in press). Examining the second order factor structure of the Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Scale among a sample of gender nonconforming college students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Huff, M., Edwards, K. E., & Littleton, H. (in press). Past six-month prevalence of IPV victimization among transgender and gender diverse undergraduate students: A brief report. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Edwards, K. M., Lim, S., Bermea, A., Wheeler, L., & Littleton, H. (in press). The role of minority stress in psychological distress and hazardous drinking among sexual minority college student victims of intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Edwards, K. M., Lim, S., Huff, M., Herrington, R., Leader Charge, L., & Littleton, H. (2023).Rates and correlates of intimate partner violence among Indigenous college students: A multi-campus study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(11–12), 7852–7866.

 Liu, S., Ma, J., Fan, Z., Yu, C., Wang, K., & Littleton, H. L. (2023). Dysmorphic appearance concern among Chinese adolescents and emerging adults. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 36, 100778.

Yu, C., Yu, X., Fan, Z., Wang, K., & Littleton, H. (2022).  Development and evaluation of a BMI-based figure rating scale for Chinese adolescents. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 45, 215-219.

Wang, K., Yu, X., Yu, C., Liu, Y., Chu, M., Zhang, R., Chen, J., Littleton, H., Shum, D. H. K., & Chan, R. C. K. (2022). Validation of the Chinese version of the Body Image Concern Inventory. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 45, 204-214.

Edwards, K. E., Scheer, J. R., Littleton, H., & Mullet, N. (2021). Preventing adverse childhood experiences among sexual and gender minority youth: A call to action. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 25, 355-357.

Edwards, K. E., Siller, L. Littleton, H., Wheeler, L., Chen, D., Sall, K., & Lim, S.(2021). Minority stress and sexual partner violence victimization and perpetration among LGBQ+ college students: The moderating roles of hazardous drinking and social support. Psychology of Violence, 11(5), 445-454.