Grant: Catalyst Grant: Alcohol research - Specific Population: Youth

We know very little about alcohol use and harms experienced by transgender youth, whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. It is important to understand their alcohol use because they are at risk for experiencing stressors in their day-to-day lives, such as victimization and discrimination, which can lead to inequities in drinking risk and harms. This pilot study will test the feasibility and acceptability of using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) with transgender youth who drink. EMA involves having participants complete brief surveys on their phones in their day-to-day lives. For 21 days, 30 transgender youth (ages 15 - 25) will be asked questions about experiences leading up to times that they drink (such as victimization, discrimination), experiences while they drink (such as mood and drug effects), and experiences after they drink (such as harms, like a hangover, missing school or work, having a fight). At the conclusion of the study, qualitative interviews will be used to elicit feedback from participants about their experiences participating in the study and to further contextualize the EMA responses they provided. Compliance rates will also be evaluated. The findings will support and refine our methodology for future large-scale, multi-year federal grant proposals (CIHR Project Grant) to examine these processes in a large and diverse sample of transgender youth and evaluate interventions that address these processes. Specifically, we wish to comprehensively examine how experiences of risk (like stress related to being a minority in society) and resilience (like social and community support) in day-to-day life may relate to drinking and harms. These findings will improve our understanding of the unique health risks and contributors of alcohol use among transgender youth, which can help us develop gender-inclusive public health policies and interventions to prevent alcohol-related harms.