Social Support and Internalizing Psychopathology in Transgender Youth

Lily Durwood; Léïla Eisner; Kaitlyn Fladeboe; Chonghui Ji; Samantha Barney; Katie A. McLaughlin; Kristina R. Olson

doi:10.1007/s10964-020-01391-y

Social Support and Internalizing Psychopathology in Transgender Youth

Lily Durwood, Léïla Eisner, Kaitlyn Fladeboe, Chonghui Ji, Samantha Barney, Katie A. McLaughlin, Kristina R. Olson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although increasing numbers of children have socially transitioned to live in line with their gender identities, little is known about factors associated with their wellbeing. This study examines the associations between parent-reported family, peer, and school support for a youth’s gender identity, as well as an objective measure of state-level support, with parent-reported internalizing symptoms in 265 transgender youth (67.2% transgender girls, 32.8% transgender boys), ages 3–15 years (M = 9.41, SD = 2.62). Parents who reported higher levels of family, peer, and school support for their child’s gender identity also reported fewer internalizing symptoms; the objective measure of state-level support was not related to internalizing symptoms. Additionally, peer and school support buffered against the association between gender-related victimization and internalizing symptoms, as reported by parents. This work demonstrates that even among transgender youth with families who supported their transitions, parents see better well-being in their children when they also see more support for the child’s gender identity from family, peers, and schools.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	841-854
Number of pages	14
Journal	Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Volume	50
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01391-y
State	Published - May 2021
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Education
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

Keywords

Internalizing psychopathology
LGBT youth
Social support
Stress buffering
Transgender

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10.1007/s10964-020-01391-y

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title = "Social Support and Internalizing Psychopathology in Transgender Youth",

abstract = "Although increasing numbers of children have socially transitioned to live in line with their gender identities, little is known about factors associated with their wellbeing. This study examines the associations between parent-reported family, peer, and school support for a youth{\textquoteright}s gender identity, as well as an objective measure of state-level support, with parent-reported internalizing symptoms in 265 transgender youth (67.2% transgender girls, 32.8% transgender boys), ages 3–15 years (M = 9.41, SD = 2.62). Parents who reported higher levels of family, peer, and school support for their child{\textquoteright}s gender identity also reported fewer internalizing symptoms; the objective measure of state-level support was not related to internalizing symptoms. Additionally, peer and school support buffered against the association between gender-related victimization and internalizing symptoms, as reported by parents. This work demonstrates that even among transgender youth with families who supported their transitions, parents see better well-being in their children when they also see more support for the child{\textquoteright}s gender identity from family, peers, and schools.",

keywords = "Internalizing psychopathology, LGBT youth, Social support, Stress buffering, Transgender",

author = "Lily Durwood and L{\'e}{\"i}la Eisner and Kaitlyn Fladeboe and Chonghui Ji and Samantha Barney and McLaughlin, {Katie A.} and Olson, {Kristina R.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature.",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1007/s10964-020-01391-y",

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AU - Ji, Chonghui

AU - Barney, Samantha

AU - McLaughlin, Katie A.

AU - Olson, Kristina R.

PY - 2021/5

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N2 - Although increasing numbers of children have socially transitioned to live in line with their gender identities, little is known about factors associated with their wellbeing. This study examines the associations between parent-reported family, peer, and school support for a youth’s gender identity, as well as an objective measure of state-level support, with parent-reported internalizing symptoms in 265 transgender youth (67.2% transgender girls, 32.8% transgender boys), ages 3–15 years (M = 9.41, SD = 2.62). Parents who reported higher levels of family, peer, and school support for their child’s gender identity also reported fewer internalizing symptoms; the objective measure of state-level support was not related to internalizing symptoms. Additionally, peer and school support buffered against the association between gender-related victimization and internalizing symptoms, as reported by parents. This work demonstrates that even among transgender youth with families who supported their transitions, parents see better well-being in their children when they also see more support for the child’s gender identity from family, peers, and schools.

AB - Although increasing numbers of children have socially transitioned to live in line with their gender identities, little is known about factors associated with their wellbeing. This study examines the associations between parent-reported family, peer, and school support for a youth’s gender identity, as well as an objective measure of state-level support, with parent-reported internalizing symptoms in 265 transgender youth (67.2% transgender girls, 32.8% transgender boys), ages 3–15 years (M = 9.41, SD = 2.62). Parents who reported higher levels of family, peer, and school support for their child’s gender identity also reported fewer internalizing symptoms; the objective measure of state-level support was not related to internalizing symptoms. Additionally, peer and school support buffered against the association between gender-related victimization and internalizing symptoms, as reported by parents. This work demonstrates that even among transgender youth with families who supported their transitions, parents see better well-being in their children when they also see more support for the child’s gender identity from family, peers, and schools.

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Social Support and Internalizing Psychopathology in Transgender Youth

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

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