The Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative is proud to announce our newest project, PrideBoost, a new digital intervention designed to support the psychological well-being of LGBTQ+ young adults across Pennsylvania by strengthening life skills, fostering positive social connections, and building on the strengths they bring to their transition into adulthood.
Supported by a grant from Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement (CURE) Program, PrideBoost reflects a growing recognition that promoting mental health requires more than addressing psychological distress. It also means investing in the relationships, personal strengths, and supportive environments that help young people thrive.
According to the 2024 Pennsylvania LGBTQ+ Health Needs Assessment, 80% of LGBTQ+ respondents under the age of 25 experienced a mental health challenge in the past year, and almost 1 in 3 reported feeling isolated from others “often” or “always.” LGBTQ+ young adults experience significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation than their heterosexual and cisgender peers. These disparities are even sharper for those in rural communities, where LGBTQ+-affirming resources are scarce and exposure to stigma is greater. These disparities are not inevitable. They are the result of structural gaps in access and support, and they can be addressed. Prideboost was designed to do exactly that.
At its core, PrideBoost is grounded in a simple premise: supporting LGBTQ+ mental health is not only about reducing distress. Taking a strengths-based approach, it aims to create opportunities for young people to build meaningful relationships, recognize their strengths, and develop the confidence and connections they need to thrive.
The three-year research project combines an interactive mobile app with live, virtual sessions facilitated by trained peer mentors. The app will guide young people through modules focused on understanding how identity, acceptance, and social connection can uniquely shape LGBTQ+ mental health. Throughout, peer mentors help them set goals, practice concrete skills, and leverage their personal strengths to reduce the effects of isolation and discrimination.
What makes Prideboost more than just an app is the human connection built into it. Participants will meet virtually with trained peer mentors who provide encouragement, support reflection, and help translate skills into meaningful action. These conversations will create opportunities for young adults to identify what matters to them, recognize their existing strengths, and work toward personally meaningful goals.
Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Prideboost’s development is who is helping to build it. Rather than relying solely on clinical expertise, the team will work alongside a Subject Matter Experts Group living across Pennsylvania who bring diverse personal, educational, and professional experience to the table. They will serve as active partners in shaping the app, ensuring it is not only evidence-based but genuinely relevant to the lives of the young adults it’s designed to serve across rural, suburban, and urban communities.
The three-year study will enroll 300 participants aged 18–29 and progress through three phases:
- Develop: Adapt and refine the PrideBoost intervention in partnership with LGBTQ+ young adults.
- Test: Conduct a randomized controlled trial to assess the intervention’s feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy.
- Evaluate: Examine changes in psychological well-being, coping, and quality of life, including the role of social support and whether outcomes differ across geographic communities.
The project is led by PI Dr. José A. Bauermeister, Albert M. Greenfield Professor of Human Relations at the University of Pennsylvania, Professor of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine, and Founding Faculty Director of Eidos, whose work has long centered on scalable, equity-driven interventions for LGBTQ+ young adults. Co-PI Dr. Lily A. Brown, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Penn’s Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, brings specialized expertise in CBT and skills-based intervention design that is central to both the intervention’s structure and its peer mentor training model.
"Too often, conversations about LGBTQ+ young adult mental health begin and end with the challenges young people face. PrideBoost starts from a different place: recognizing their strengths, aspirations, and capacity for connection. We want to understand how investing in these assets, alongside practical life skills and peer support, can help young people build the relationships and lives they value."
If successful, PrideBoost could offer a scalable model for supporting LGBTQ+ young adults across Pennsylvania and beyond, particularly in communities where affirming resources are less accessible. It represents a broader shift in how we approach LGBTQ+ health: moving away from a singular focus on risk and deficit, and toward what it truly takes to promote wellbeing.