Symposia
LGBQT+
Christopher F. Drescher, Ph.D.
Augusta University
Augusta, Georgia
Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals report pervasive harassment and violence in their lives, including workplace discrimination (30%), verbal harassment (46%), and history of sexual assault (47%; James et al., 2016). These minority stressors influence the development rates of psychopathology, such as depression, which is seen in a third of TGD people seeking gender services (Chodzen et al., 2019).
Minority stress theory (Meyer, 2003) posits that identity-related stressors among gender minority individuals contribute to mental health disparities. TGD people must cope with general stressors and with gender-identity specific stressors, such as rejection and victimization. Juster et al (2017) expanded on the minority stress model to include resilience factors, such as sense of community (SOC). However, SOC was threatened at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This study includes 115 TGD participants from an LGBTQ primary care clinic for low-income un/under-insured individuals in the south. Participants completed the Discrimination, Rejection, and Victimization scales of the Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Measure (GMSR; Testa et al., 2019), the Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSCS; Peterson et al., 2008), and the Patient Healthy Questionnaire (PHQ-9; Kroneke et al., 2001). Data was collected during the summer of 2020. Bivariate correlations and regression were used to investigate the relations of study variables, specifically if gender minority stressors and SOC were independently related to depressive symptoms.
GMSR Rejection (r = .32, p < .01) and Victimization (r = .27, p < .01), and BSCS scores (r = -.32, p < .01) were correlated with PHQ-9 scores. In hierarchical regression analysis with GMSR Rejection and Victimization entered in step 1, only Rejection was significantly related to PHQ-9 scores. In step 2, BSCS scores were added to the model; the model remained significant, but only BSCS scores were a significant independent predictor of PHQ-9 scores, with the full model accounting for 12% of variance (adjusted r2 = .121).
Results indicate that while minority stressors are related to depressive symptoms in a sample of TGD participants, SOC in the LBGTQ community is a source of resilience. In addition to efforts to address the pervasive discrimination, rejection, and victimization of TGD individuals, work should be done to increase a sense of connection and belonging within the LGBTQ community. This is especially meaningful as traditional sources of community connection are threatened during the COVID-19 pandemic.