Transgender, gender nonbinary, and genderqueer (henceforth, transgender) people are more likely to report adverse health outcomes than cisgender people.^1-4 For example, an estimated 22% of transgender people estimate their health as fair or poor compared with 18% of the overall US population, and 39% of transgender people currently meet the criteria for severe psychological distress (SPD) compared with 5% of the overall US population.⁵ Long-term stressors, including restrictive policy environments, structural and interpersonal experiences of transphobia, discrimination, stigmatization, and gender minority stress⁶ (“the social stressors specific to transgender and other gender minority people that result from gender-related discrimination, … nonaffirmation of gender identity, internalized transphobia, … community connectedness, and pride”), are important factors contributing to these adverse health outcomes.⁷

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test the association between protective and risk factors, including age of transition, K-12 experiences, and family support, on suicidality among transgender and gender nonbinary/gender queer (TNB) adults. Methods: Our analysis relies on data from the 2015 United States Transgender Survey. We used separate logistic regression models to predict lifetime suicidal ideation and suicide attempt among 19,121 survey respondents. Results: Negative K-12 experiences significantly predict higher likelihood of both suicidal ideation and suicide attempt for transgender people, regardless of age of transition, and after controlling for a host of covariates. The age a transgender person begins to live full time in a gender different from the one assigned at birth has little association with suicidality. However, supportive families act as a buffer against suicidal ideation, and unsupportive families significantly predict higher likelihood of suicide attempt for transgender people when controlling for numerous covariates. Conclusion: Our findings underscore the importance of supportive environments for TNB adolescents. Interventions that strengthen interpersonal relationships and local environments will reduce suicidality among TNB youth. Importantly, recent anti-trans legislation may interfere with the ability of teachers and families to provide needed supports and will likely have deleterious effects on the mental health of TNB individuals.

We interviewed 31 individuals about their online dating life and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use literature on risk and health behaviors to generate four frames for dealing with risk associated with COVID-19 while dating: 1) Unconcerned about Risk, 2) Preliminary Risk Assessment, 3) Active Risk Negotiation, and 4) Risk Aversion. Further, we argue that risk perception causes daters to use implicit and explicit communication about health behaviors to determine COVID compatibility, a state of being in agreement with a partner about how to best minimize risk of contracting COVID-19. Daters want to know that their partner is behaving with similar regard for health guidance and that they are doing their best to keep those in their communities safe. Though daters may transition between frames throughout the course of the pandemic, we use these four frames to identify sets of beliefs, routines, and personal health practices across our sample that have relevance for social scientists, health communication scholars, and health care practitioners.

We evaluate the association of familial factors and suicidality among transgender adults in the U.S. by estimating the odds of lifetime suicide ideation and attempt using the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Predictors include family support, family rejection, and specific experiences related to both. About 79% of sample respondents have experienced suicidal ideation and nearly 43% have made a suicide attempt. The predicted probability of suicide attempt is 0.35 for those with no family rejection experiences, 0.75 for those who have had all five experiences in our models. Rejection ­predicts both outcomes and experiences of rejection have a cumulative impact.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) individuals in the United States experience higher rates of discrimination and stressors that negatively impact health compared with their straight, cisgender counterparts. Using 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) data, estimating multilevel mixed-effects logistic regressions, we examined the relationship between state LGBTQ+ policies and health among LGBT people. Findings reveal a statistically significant inverse link between protective (high) state policy scores and poor self-rated health, poor mental health days, and poor physical health days. Specifically, with each 1-point increase in policy score, the odds of poor self-rated health are reduced by 0.03%, high mental health burden by 0.02%, and high physical health burden by 0.02%. Inequalities in self-rated health, high mental health burden, and high physical health burden are greater in policy environments with fewer state-level protections, with LGBT individuals reporting better health where there are more protections. These results indicate that discriminatory state policies are linked to poorer health for LGBT individuals and suggest that protective policies could improve health. Further research with comprehensive data is needed to deepen understanding.