Potentially Traumatic Events and the Association Between Gender Minority Stress and Suicide Risk in a Gender‐Diverse Sample

Abstract

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals are at an elevated risk of trauma exposure and other negative mental and physical health outcomes. The present study examined the interaction between minority stressors, reported potentially traumatic events (PTEs), and suicide risk (i.e., ideation and behavior) in a TGD sample. A convenience sample of 155 self‐identified TGD individuals completed questionnaires assessing distal (e.g., gender‐related discrimination) and proximal (e.g., internalized transphobia) gender identity–related stressors, lifetime PTE history, and suicide risk. The results of a mediation analysis demonstrated that proximal stressors partially mediated the association between distal stressors and suicide risk, B = 1.12, t(152) = 3.72, p < .01, 95% CI [0.53, 1.72], and the results of a moderated mediation analysis showed that the interaction term was not significant, and that the number of PTEs did not moderate the mediation model that examined proximal stressors as a mediator of the association between distal stressors and suicide risk, F(3, 151) = 18.74, MSE = 0.75, R2 = 0.27, B = 0.07, t(151) = 0.89, p = .371, 95% CI [‐0.08, 0.21]. These findings suggest that minority stressors may contribute to suicide risk in a TGD population above and beyond the impact of trauma exposure. Risk reduction efforts for suicide risk may be enhanced by attending to minority stressors in addition to PTEs.

The role of internalized transphobia and negative expectations in the relationship between identity-specific intimate partner violence and mental health outcomes in transgender and gender nonconforming young adults.

“…This finding could suggest that if TGNC individuals had experienced abuse specific to their transgender identity, they may have expected that they would also be treated poorly by other people due to their identity; these negative expectations may have then contributed to the development of mental health symptomatology. This finding is consistent with past research that found that proximal stressors were the mechanism by which distal stressors related to mental health (Cogan et al, 2021;Jäggi et al, 2018), as well as one study finding that negative expectations specifically explained the relationship between rejection, nonaffirmation, and victimization and suicidal ideation (Testa et al, 2017). Furthermore, the findings of the present study are consistent with prior research demonstrating that negative expectations were associated with both depression (Hidalgo et al, 2019;Testa et al, 2015;Timmins et al, 2017) and anxiety (Chodzen et al, 2019;Timmins et al, 2017).…”

“…Hendricks and Testa (2012) later applied the Minority Stress Model to the TGNC population, creating the Gender Minority Stress Model. Several studies have found support for this model; for example, proximal stressors have been found to mediate the relationship between distal stressors and depression (Jäggi et al, 2018) and suicide risk (Cogan et al, 2021) in TGNC samples. However, more research is needed to test pathways among specific distal stressors, proximal stressors, and mental health outcomes (Valentine & Shipherd, 2018).…”

El estigma de las identidades no binarias y el trastorno de estrés postraumático. Una revisión crítica de la literatura

“…A critical review of the literature Susana Merino-Lorente understanding, control, and belonging, with deleterious effects on mental health. Furthermore, trauma and discrimination, whether acute or chronic, produce heightened stress responses, including avoidance of stimuli associated with the traumatic or discriminatory event and hypervigilance (anticipatory stress) about the possibility of future trauma or discrimination), as well as similar physiological responses in reaction to acute laboratory stressors (Cogan et al, 2021). There is evidence that exposure to traumatic stress and stigma-related stress operate through similar minority stress processes (Meyer, 2020), Minority stress theory (Meyer, 2020) have proportioned an essential framework for understanding mental health differences among gender minorities.…”

“…These different episodes, along with common stressors, extremely affect the mental health and well-being of TBN people. An extension of this work also focuses on how individual internal sociopsychological processes (eg, appraisal, coping, and emotion regulation) mediate the association between stressful experiences and minority sociopsychology (Cogan et al, 2021).…”

“…The data alerts to overwhelming evidence of a higher risk of poor mental health at all stages of development than TNB people. Studies using adult samples show high rates of depression and mood disorders, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Cogan et al, 2021), alcohol use and abuse suicidal ideation and attempts, and mental illness. Studies of adolescents trace the origins of these mental health disparities from adolescent to adult sexual orientation, some studies show that rates of distress, symptoms, and behavior associated with these disorders are disproportionate among young LGBT people before adulthood (Fish & Pasley, 2015).…”