Citation

Reisner SL, Katz-Wise SL, Gordon AR, Corliss HL, Austin SB. J. Adolesc. Health 2016; 59(2): 203-208.

Affiliation

Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.04.006

PMID

27267142

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study investigates depression and anxiety in gender minority (i.e., transgender and/or gender nonconforming) compared with nongender minority (cisgender) young adults.

METHODS: Data were from the Growing Up Today Study, a national cohort of U.S. young adults. A two-step method (maternal-reported natal sex in 1996 cross-classified with participant-reported current gender identity in 2010) was used to identify gender minority and nongender minority respondents (n = 7,831; mean age = 26 years). Differences in past week depressive symptoms and anxious symptoms were examined cross-sectionally by gender identity. Gender minority and nongender minority respondents were compared using age-adjusted logistic regression models.

RESULTS: In gender minorities, the prevalence of depressive and anxious symptoms meeting clinical cutoffs was 52% and 38%, respectively, compared with nongender minorities (27% and 30% in females and 25% and 14% in males; p <.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Gender identity is an understudied social determinant of mental health. Surveillance efforts to monitor mental health disparities should include survey questions to assess gender identity in epidemiologic research. Research and interventions to understand and ameliorate mental health disparities by gender identity are needed.

Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en