The Role of Supportive and Unsupportive Family Behaviors in the Mental Health of Transgender and Nonbinary Young Adults.

PURPOSE: Transgender and nonbinary (TNB) people are at an elevated risk for depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and family behaviors may contribute to or protect from these negative outcomes. The current study, therefore, aimed to assess whether (1) supportive and unsupportive family behaviors would predict depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms in TNB young adults and (2) the total number of supportive family behaviors would moderate the relationship between the number of unsupportive family behaviors and mental health.

METHODS

Participants were n = 200 TNB young adults who completed a cross-sectional, in-person survey in New York City between July 2019 and March 2020.

RESULTS

All unsupportive family behaviors, except gender identity change efforts, were associated with greater depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. The total number of unsupportive behaviors continued to predict greater symptoms when controlling for relevant sociodemographic characteristics and the number of supportive family behaviors, as well as the interaction term in the depression model. However, supportive family behaviors did not predict mental health, and the total number of supportive behaviors did not moderate the relationship between the number of unsupportive behaviors and symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Family transphobia was associated with greater depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms among TNB young adults, and family support was not sufficient to buffer these negative outcomes. Family-based programs should aim to prevent unsupportive family behaviors, and TNB people who have already been exposed to family transphobia should be targeted for intervention.