Social Support and Internalizing Psychopathology in Transgender Youth

Abstract

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.