Examining Relationships between School Experience and Mental Health in Transgender and Gender Non-conforming Adolescents

Presenter

Abigail Grimm

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Liz Bertone-Johnson, Department of Health Promotion and Policy, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 4, 2:30 PM - 3:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board C20, Poster Showcase Room (163), Row 2 (C11-C20) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Objective: The prevalence of poor mental health among adolescents is high and increasing. Poor mental health is disproportionately high among gender-diverse adolescents. This research seeks to understand potential risk factors and reasons for this disproportionality by examining the relationship between school experience, bullying, and mental health outcomes. 

Methods: Analysis was performed on data collected via Youth Risk Behavior Surveys administered in 2023 to 1,439 students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grade across eight public school districts in Western Massachusetts. 

Results: Approximately 11% (n=153) of respondents reported their gender identity as transgender, nonbinary, gender fluid, genderqueer, other, or unsure (‘genderqueer’). Genderqueer respondents reported experiencing negative mental health outcomes (defined as anxiety, depression, or passive suicidal ideation) at higher rates than cisgender respondents (OR = 3.5; p < 0.001). Genderqueer respondents also reported more experiences of school victimization (OR = 7.0; p < 0.001). Genderqueer respondents who experienced school victimization had a greater risk of reporting poor mental health outcomes compared to genderqueer respondents who did not experience school victimization (OR = 3.3; p =0.05). Genderqueer respondents who experienced school victimization reported poorer mental health outcomes than cisgender respondents who also experienced the same victimization (OR 6.7; p = 0.05). 

Conclusion: Genderqueer adolescents reported higher rates of bullying and victimization in school which may contribute to their disproportionately poor mental health. Addressing school victimization may help reduce these outcomes in genderqueer youth.

Keywords

LGBTQ+, mental health , health disparities, adolescents, transgender youth

Research Area

Public Health and Epidemiology

SIMILAR ABSTRACTS (BY KEYWORD)