Growing up in a rural area, social support, and internalized transphobia: Understanding Appalachian transgender mental and physical health.

Abstract

Transgender and nonbinary (TNB) people make up a growing percentage of Americans. While research on this community has been increasing steadily over the past decade, rural and Southern TNB experiences are often overlooked. The goal of this study was to examine how growing up in a rural area impacts the physical and mental health of TNB adults. Using a sample of 163 TNB adults living in South Central Appalachia, we used structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between growing up in a rural area and current mental and physical health. Growing up in a rural area was indirectly related to psychological distress through current social support, which was indirectly related to psychological distress through internalized transphobia. Growing up in a rural area was directly related to physical health, and this relationship was partially mediated by current levels of social support. Additionally, psychological distress predicted physical health. Overall, our findings suggest that growing up in a rural area is an important component of understanding mental and physical health for transgender people living in South Central Appalachia. Resources should be allocated to rural communities to increase social support and decrease internalized transphobia for TNB people, especially youth, in these areas.

Internalized transphobia and self-concept clarity among transgender and gender-nonconforming young adults: Characteristics, associations, and the mediating role of self-esteem.

“…At the same time, there has also been a recent surge of antitrans rhetoric, victimization, and legislation, which has contributed to increased distress and IT among TGNC populations (Tebbe et al, 2022;The Trevor Project, 2023). While we considered one important variable that can impact IT among TGNC populations-namely, gender affirmation-other important social and interpersonal variables may also influence IT, such as access to social support and connectedness (Austin & Goodman, 2017;A. K. Mann et al, 2023;Smith et al, 1996;Testa et al, 2014) and experiences of discrimination or INTERNALIZED TRANSPHOBIA AND SELF-CONCEPT CLARITY 9 violence (Barr et al, 2022;Scandurra et al, 2018).…”