Parent/Caregiver Narratives of Challenges Related to Raising Transgender and/or Nonbinary Youth

Abstract

Parents/caregivers of transgender and/or nonbinary (TNB) youth (those who identify with a different gender than the gender typically associated with their assigned sex) may experience secondary stigma related to their child’s TNB identity. However, parent/caregiver support is critical for TNB youth’s mental health. This study explored attitudes and challenges faced by parents/caregivers of TNB youth. Data were from 27 parents/caregivers of TNB youth who completed an anonymous online survey with qualitative and quantitative measures. Qualitative data were analyzed using immersion/crystallization and thematic analysis approaches. Six themes were developed from the data: TNB youth individual characteristics/experiences, societal and other external factors affecting parent/caregivers’ future outlook, TNB identity development and transition, TNB-related social and institutional interactions, parent/caregivers’ supportive cognitions and behaviors, and parent/caregivers’ challenging cognitions. Findings from this study can inform efforts to support parents/caregivers of TNB youth, which can ultimately support the well-being of TNB youth themselves.

Dynamics of Primary Social Networks to Support Mothers, Fathers, or Guardians of Transgender Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

“…The articles were published in 2009 (4.7%) [20], 2011 (4.7%) [21], 2013 (4.7%) [22], 2014 (4.7%) [23], 2015 (4.7%) [24], 2016 (9.5%) [25,26], 2018 (4.7%) [27], 2019 (9.5%) [28,29], 2020 (19%) [30][31][32][33], and 2021 (33%) [34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. All articles (100%) were published in English, of which 14 (66.6%) [20,21,[23][24][25][26][27][28][30][31][32]35,37,40] were from America, 6 (28.5%) [29,33,34,36,38,39] were from Europe, and one (4.7%) [22] was from Oceania. The information and the synthesis of the main results of the final sample of all articles included in the review are presented in Table 1.…”

“…In other studies, participants also reported being under stress in their marriage and with close relatives [20,21,24,25,33]. One of the studies also mentioned a mother's disagreements and concern with her child's biological father for not being "supportive" [37]. The nuclear family tends to expose itself to harassment and hostility from relatives [21,39] and neighbors [39].…”

“…Issues related to gender identity that emerged in the studies included in this review were permeated by parents' concerns with the social transition of their transgender children, especially with communication, use of pronouns, and clothing consistent with gender identity [27,30,35], in addition to issues related to peer and family support [27,37]. In parallel, their need for self-care was also listed as a prerogative to understand their own limits and how to act with their children [27].…”

“…Parents mentioned a lack of informational support [21][22][23][28][29][30][31][36][37][38][39] and search for knowledge on their own, for instance, through research on websites and blogs, or even online contact with transgender people [30,33,[36][37][38]. The internet is sometimes a means of disseminating materials that are difficult to understand in terms of language related to gender variation.…”

“…In one study, parents reported that this subject was taboo in the family [38]. In another study, parents reported receiving or wanting support from Facebook groups or other online resources and also from media such as their child's school, therapy, support groups, friends, peers, and books [37].…”