Gendered Differences in Experiences of Bullying and Mental Health Among Transgender and Cisgender Youth

Dados Bibliográficos

ID10923944
AutoresLaura Sares-Jäske (0000-0001-5151-9302, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, autor correspondente), Mercédesz Czimbalmos (0000-0002-8709-4569, Åbo Akademi University), Satu Majlander (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Reetta Siukola (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Reija Klemetti (0000-0002-7692-2656, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Pauliina Luopa (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Jukka Lehtonen (0000-0003-4899-1387, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare)
Ano2023
Volume52
Fascículo8
Páginas1531-1548
Data de publicação2023-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Youth and Adolescence (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0047-2891 • E-ISSN: 1573-6601
EditoraSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10964-023-01786-7
PMID37199852
OpenAlexW4377010955
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas51

Even though previous studies have shown that transgender youth have poorer mental health and more experiences of being bullied than their cisgender counterparts, and that bullying associates with poorer mental health, knowledge on such associations in different gender identity groups is scarce. This study investigated how mental health problems and experiences of being bullied appear across different gender identity groups, and how bullying is associated with mental health among the groups in question. Data from the Finnish School Health Promotion 2021 study ( n = 152,880, mean age 16.2 years (standard deviation 1.22)) was used and categorized into four gender identity groups: cisgender girls ( n = 76,521), cisgender boys ( n = 69,735), transfeminine youth ( n = 1317), and transmasculine youth ( n = 5307). Transgender youth experienced more bullying and reported poorer mental health than cisgender youth. While transfeminine youth faced the most bullying, transmasculine youth had the most mental health symptoms. In each group, bullying associated with poorer mental health. Compared to cisgender boys without bullying experiences, odds of poorer mental health were dozens-fold among transmasculine youth with weekly bullying experiences. In addition, compared to cisgender boys with bullying experiences, odds of poorer mental health were greater among all other gender identity groups with bullying experiences, and among transmasculine youth in particular (e.g., odds ratio of generalized anxiety = 8.36 (95% confidence interval, 6.59–10.6)). Bullying is associated with poorer mental health in all youth, but transgender youth, and especially transmasculine youth, may be in an even more vulnerable position for its implications. This suggests that there is a need for improving effective measures to decrease bullying in schools and to improve wellbeing of transgender youth

Logistic regression · Mental health · Odds · Psychiatry · Transgender · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression · Clinical Psychology · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Medicine · Psychology