Emotional Distress, Bullying Victimization, and Protective Factors Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adolescents in City, Suburban, Town, and Rural Locations

Abstract

Helping TGD adolescents in all types of locations identify resources and supportive professionals is critical to supporting this population.

Barriers to Accessing Health Care in Rural Regions by Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender Diverse People: A Case-Based Scoping Review

“…Age is also a critical variable for trans patients seeking treatment. Given an online survey of 252 respondents (mean age 47.9), rural residing trans and LGBTQ+ US veterans face longer travel times to HCPs than their suburban or urban counterparts (21). According to the Canada Trans Health Survey, for rural and remote residing trans youth in particular, who comprised 9.3% of the total sample, aged 14 to 25, transportation presents significant obstacles for accessing urban health care (2).…”

“…Samples often focus on middle-aged participants, neglecting trans youth in rural or suburban areas, where sparse research exists (22). However, trans people at the lower and higher ends of the age spectrum are particularly isolated in regards to health care (2,21).…”

“…Rural HCPs have fewer LGBTQ+ patients and less diversity-related training opportunities, making the conscious creation of an LGBTQ+ friendly environment more unlikely (31). This, combined with the close-knit nature of many rural communities, makes it difficult to be open about one's gender identity or sexual orientation to a rural HCP because they probably know one's relatives and friends, according to qualitative in-depth interviews with 16 LGBTQ+ youth (ages 15-24) and 21 LGBTQ+ adults (ages 25 or older), as well as 14 key informants with experience working with LGBTQ+ clients in the Northwest Territories, Canada (33).…”

“…Related to the first research question, we found that living in remote, rural, or suburban areas can significantly impede access to specialized trans health services. Trans-informed HCPs are predominantly found in metropolitan areas, which means long, costly commutes for trans people (2,21). In addition, many rural or suburban residing trans people experience discrimination from non-specialized or dismissive HCPs in their area (31)(32)(33).…”

Bullying Victimization Among LGBTQ Youth: Critical Issues and Future Directions

“…In fact, studies note effects of bias-based bullying that are as large or larger than the effects seen for general bullying victimization [44,49,50]. LGBTQ youth are more likely than their straight cisgender peers to be the targets of bias-based bullying [7,32,42,51,52], and importantly, this is not just bias related to their sexual orientation and gender identity. For example, LGBQ youth are more likely than their straight peers to be the targets of bullying based on race, weight/appearance and ability, even after controlling for race/ethnicity, weight and ability status [42].…”