Social Support and Internalizing Psychopathology in Transgender Youth

In recent years, an increasing number of families have allowed their children to socially transition to live in transgender identities; little is known about factors associated with such children’s wellbeing. The present work tests the association between gender-related support and internalizing symptoms in socially transitioned transgender youth. We examined whether parent-reported family support, peer support, school support, and an objective measure of state-level support were associated with internalizing symptoms in 265 transgender youth, ages 3-15. We also examined whether each form of support moderated the association between gender-related victimization experiences and internalizing symptoms. This work exemplifies that, even among transgender children who are largely supported in their identities, support for a transgender child’s gender identity and expression is associated with greater wellbeing.

Author dc:creator

• Durwood, Lily J.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Olson, Kristina

• Clinical psychology

Statement dc:rights

• none

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1773/45260

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.lib.washington.edu:1773/45260