Grant: Project Grant

Mental illness is the leading cause of disability and disproportionately impacts transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals (those who do not identify with their sex assigned at birth or who identify outside the gender binary). Research shows that the prevalence of mental disorders is higher in TGD individuals compared others, and this may be explained by negative social experiences, such as discrimination and harassment. Furthermore, TGD individuals may be more likely to experience discrimination from health professionals and face other barriers to mental health care. On the other hand, positive social experiences, including support from family and friends, have been shown to be associated with better mental health among TGD populations. Despite increased attention on mental health among transgender adolescents, there are few studies that investigate aspects of positive mental health and these studies are rarely drawn from large-sample population surveys. The proposed research aims to answer the following questions: 1) How does the mental health of TGD youth differ in comparison to their cisgender peers? 2) Are positive social experiences (from peers, family, the school environment, the neighbourhood) associated with fewer negative mental health outcomes in TGD youth? 3) Do negative social experiences explain the mental health disparities between TGD and cisgender youth, and can positive social experiences buffer TGD youth from the deleterious effects of negative social experiences? 4) Does optimism for the future differ between TGD youth compared to cisgender peers? 5) Does mental-health-related help seeking differ between TGD youth compared to cisgender peers? 6) Do the above associations differ across other lines of intersectionality, including race/ethnicity? These questions will first be answered using large survey data from thousands of high school students across Canada, and then later explored with one-on-one interviews with TGD youth.