title: Self-Reported Changes in Attractions and Social Determinants of Mental Health in Transgender Adults.
abstract: This study examined associations between changes in self-reported attractions and mental health in a community-based sample of self-identified transgender adults. Participants were purposively recruited in 2013 using bimodal sampling methods and completed a one-time survey. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated adjusted risk ratios and 95 % confidence intervals to examine associations between changes in attractions and mental health outcomes (lifetime self-harm, suicide attempts, depression diagnosis; past-week clinically significant depressive distress assessed via CES-D 10) among the entire sample (N = 452; 285 female-to-male spectrum, 167 male-to-female spectrum) and after gender transition among those who had socially transitioned (n = 205; 156 female-to-male spectrum, 49 male-to-female spectrum). Models were adjusted for known population social determinants (age, race/ethnicity, gender identity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation identity), transgender-specific determinants (age of transgender realization, social transition, medical transition, visual gender nonconformity, non-binary gender identification), and survey mode (online vs. in-person sampling). Lifetime changes in attractions were significantly associated with increased probability of all mental health outcomes; individuals reporting any change in attractions were more likely than individuals not reporting changes to indicate lifetime self-harm, suicide attempts, depression diagnosis, and current depressive distress (all ps < .05). Changes in attractions post-social transition were not significantly associated with mental health outcomes. Many, but not all, population and transgender-specific social determinants were significantly associated with mental health in the full sample and among those who had socially transitioned. Clinical implications of findings about changes in attractions and mental health are discussed for transgender individuals.
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sabra L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Katz-Wise
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. sreisner@fenwayhealth.org.|Division of General Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. sreisner@fenwayhealth.org.|Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. sreisner@fenwayhealth.org.|The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, 1340 Boylston Street, 8th Floor, Boston, MA, 02215, USA. sreisner@fenwayhealth.org.
authors.forename: Sari L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Reisner
authors.affiliation: The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, 1340 Boylston Street, 8th Floor, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.|Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Jaclyn M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: White Hughto
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Budge
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D057566:Self Report; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D063106:Transgender Persons / Q000523:psychology*; D014189:Transsexualism / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Gender minority; Mental health; Sexual fluidity; Sexual orientation; Transgender