Stigma, health, and psychosocial functioning among transgender active duty service members in the U.S. military.

Abstract

Transgender persons face frequent instances of stigma that may make them vulnerable to adverse mental and physical health outcomes. To date, however, few studies have assessed gender identity–related stigma and its psychosocial correlates among active duty transgender military personnel. To assess the associations of stigma with psychosocial functioning and health, U.S. military personnel self-identifying as transgender completed anonymous online measures of stigmatizing situations within the military, health, psychosocial functioning, eating pathology, risk behaviors, and coping strategies. Participants also described their worst experience of gender identity–related stigma within the military. In total, 174 service members (28.8 ± 6.3 years, 50.6% transmale, 71.3% non-Hispanic White, 7.8 ± 5.5 years in service) completed the survey. The majority (93%) reported at least 1 instance of gender identity–related stigma in the military, including bullying and barriers to obtaining gender-affirming services. Although service members reported generally good health and psychosocial functioning, stigma in the military was significantly associated with poorer overall mental health and greater depression, anxiety, and stress, after adjusting for age, gender identity, race, and service rank. Stigma was unrelated to self-reported physical health. Of 14 different coping behaviors assessed, only positive reframing was associated with better mental health. The current study indicates that stigma within the military is reported by the majority of service members self-identifying as transgender and is associated with poor mental health, above and beyond the contribution of relevant covariates. Additional research is needed to identify those at greatest risk for the adverse effects of stigma.

Coping with stigmatization and discrimination related to blindness and low vision.

“…In particular, distorted thinking, as previously defined in Results, appeared as an obstacle. This is consistent with research on social perspective-taking which suggests people frequently make perspective-taking errors, and distinguishing between self and others is often difficult (Schvey et al, 2020).…”

A Descriptive Study of Transgender Active Duty Service Members in the U.S. Military

“…37 The decrement in emotional well-being may be partially attributable to the chronic stress associated with gender minority status and stigma. 19,[38][39][40] The prevalence of depression in the current sample was considerably higher than that reported in a metaanalysis of major depression among active duty service members (34% in the current sample compared to 13.1% of previously deployed service members observed in the meta-analysis). 41 Participants' mean depression scores were lower, however, than a sample of older (mean age 57 years) military veterans.…”

“…More information on recruitment and data collection may be found elsewhere. 19 Written informed consent was waived and no personal identifying information was collected. This study received approval from the authors' Institutional Review Board.…”

Understanding the clinical characteristics of lesbian, gay, and bisexual military service members and adult beneficiaries within an inpatient psychiatric sample

“…It is also possible that lesbian, gay, and bisexual Service members may have varied suicide‐related risk (Holloway et al, 2021; Matarazzo et al, 2014; McNamara et al, 2019). Research is needed to examine these subgroup differences and consider the degree to which transgender Service members are at unique risk for suicide (Schvey et al, 2019). Third, the current study did not include any measures of minority stressors, gender nonconformity, disclosure of sexual orientation status to others, or LGB‐specific protective factors (Matarazzo et al, 2014), limiting the identification of potential mediating or moderating factors.…”

“…DADT prohibited questioning about Service members’ sexual orientation and discouraged Service members from disclosing sexual minority identity or same‐sex sexual behavior, for fear of military separation (Katz, 2010; Smith, 2008). Historical exclusion of LGB Service members, and recent exclusion of transgender individuals (Schvey et al, 2019), put sexual minorities and gender‐diverse individuals at high risk for victimization, social isolation, and stigma while decreasing likelihood of using military mental health services (Goldbach & Castro, 2016).…”