This study examined transgender community belongingness as a mediator between strength of transgender identity and well-being. A total of 571 transgender adults (n = 209 transgender women, n = 217 transgender men, and n = 145 nonbinary-identified individuals) completed an online survey assessing transgender community belongingness, strength of transgender identity (operationalized as the extent to which a person self-categorizes their identity as transgender and the extent to which they believe their gender transition to be important to their self-definition), and well-being (using measures of self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and psychological well-being). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. When controlling for participants' income, age, and stage of gender transition, transgender community belongingness fully mediated the relationship between strength of transgender identity and well-being. Strength of transgender identity was indirectly and positively related to well-being through community belongingness, but was not directly related to well-being. Results suggest that transgender community belongingness is an important construct in the mental health of transgender people. The strength of a person's transgender identity also appears to be a significant construct in transgender people's well-being via its relationship with transgender community belongingness. Implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Transgender people have higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than the general population. This risk can be partially understood by conceptualizing day-to-day bias-related stressors and nonaffirmation as potentially traumatic, but there is currently limited empirical evidence to support such a framework. This study aimed to explore this framework by testing the hypothesis that exposure to antitransgender bias and non-affirmation are related to PTSD symptom severity, even after controlling for exposure to traditionally defined potentially traumatic events. Drawing upon shame-based models of PTSD, this study also tested the hypothesis that internalized transphobia partially mediates the relationships between both bias and non-affirmation and PTSD symptom severity. Cross-sectional data were collected online from 575 individuals who identified as having a gender different from their sex assigned at birth. Data were analyzed utilizing structural equation modeling. As hypothesized, participants with greater exposure to anti-transgender bias and higher levels of non-affirmation experiences had increased PTSD symptom severity, even after controlling for exposure to other trauma. These relationships were partially explained by internalized transphobia. These findings document meaningful relationships between anti-transgender bias, non-affirmation, internalized transphobia, and posttraumatic stress. They provide initial support for conceptualizing anti-transgender bias and non-affirmation experiences as potentially traumatic themselves and/or as trauma response triggers and highlight a potential role of internalized transphobia in PTSD symptoms. Clinical implications for working with trans populations are discussed. Public Significance StatementThis study found that anti-transgender bias, non-affirmation of gender, and internalized transphobia were related to PTSD symptom severity. When psychologists or the general public make efforts to understand trans people's increased rates of PTSD symptoms and diagnoses-or participate in efforts to improve mental health in the trans community-they should attend to anti-transgender bias, non-affirmation, and internalized transphobia.

Background The first semester in undergraduate engineering is often challenging for students, making this a potentially fruitful time period for exploring motivational changes and relations between motivational beliefs and achievement. Purpose/Hypothesis The purpose of the current study was to examine changes in implicit beliefs about intelligence and effort beliefs across the first semester of undergraduate engineering education, to investigate how these beliefs may contribute to first‐semester achievement, and to explore changes in students’ perceptions of the relative contributions of effort and ability/intelligence to grades. Design/Method Data from first‐time, full‐time engineering undergraduates at a large Midwestern university were collected at Weeks 1 and 13 of the first semester. Analyses were replicated across two cohorts (2013 and 2014). Results On average, students entered and ended the semester with relatively incremental and positive effort beliefs. Surprisingly, incremental beliefs did not predict grade point average (GPA). Positive effort beliefs were associated with GPA in both cohorts. Findings regarding the role that perceived effort plays in achievement were replicated across cohorts. The average trajectory was as follows: at Week 1, students perceived that ability/intelligence was the primary contributor to high school achievement but anticipated that effort would play a greater role in undergraduate coursework; at Week 13, students on average reflected that the role of effort was less than originally anticipated. Conclusion Although implicit beliefs about intelligence and effort beliefs remained fairly stable across the first semester, students in both cohorts exhibited similar shifts in perceptions of the importance of effort (relative to ability/intelligence) for academic success.

As the crisis of global pandemic continues to unfold and alter the everyday workings of public life, early trends in the impact on mental healthcare treatment at a safety-net hospital illuminate implications for clinical work in the public sector under unprecedented conditions and beyond. While there are many important areas to consider and research to come, the current paper will explore the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on attendance of psychotherapy sessions. The authors point to early evidence from their caseloads in an outpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy training program showing a statistically significant decrease in missed appointments upon switching, in crisis, to a telehealth model. In this paper we explore possible reasons for this decrease in missed appointments, including psychological reasons (such as increased need for connection) and logistical reasons (such as eliminating barriers to attendance). Finally, we point to considerations and implications for practice during and after the crisis of the pandemic has subsided, and consider ways in which the changing approach may, in effect, increase access and remove barriers to care that pre-date our current crisis.