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Symposia

LGBTQ+

Session: Conceptualizing Structural Transphobia: Measurement Innovations, Research Evidence, and Multilevel Solutions

2 - (SYM 144) Structural Transphobia Is Associated with Psychological Distress and Suicidality in a Large National Sample of Transgender Adults

Sunday, November 19, 2023
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM PST
Location: Nooksack (602), Level 6

Background: Transgender adults face increasingly discriminatory laws/policies and prejudicial attitudes in many regions of the United States (US), yet research has neither quantified state-level transphobia using indicators of both nor considered their collective association with transgender adults’ psychological wellbeing, hindering the identification of this potential social determinant of transgender mental health inequity.

Methods: We therefore used factor analysis to develop a comprehensive structural transphobia measure encompassing 29 indicators of transphobic laws/policies and attitudes at the state level, which we linked to individual-level mental health data from a large national sample of N=27,279 transgender adults (ages 18–100) residing in 45 US states and the District of Columbia (DC).

Results: Controlling for individual- (i.e., demographics), interpersonal- (i.e., perceived discrimination), and state- (i.e., income inequality, religiosity) level covariates, transgender adults from US states with higher (vs. lower) levels of structural transphobia reported more severe past-month psychological distress and were more likely to endorse past-year and lifetime suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts.

Conclusions: Findings provide novel evidence that state-level transphobic laws/policies and attitudes collectively shape a range of important mental health outcomes among transgender adults in the US. Multilevel intervention strategies—such as affirming mental health treatments, provider-training interventions, and supportive legislation—are needed to address structural transphobia’s multifaceted nature and negative mental health consequences.