Wright, Talen Elizabeth Julia; (2024) TRans And Non-binary Suicidality (TRANS): Microaggressions and Mental Health. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Preview

Text Wright_10186857_Thesis_sigs_removed.pdf Download (3MB) | Preview

Abstract

Trans people are at an increased risk of developing mental health disorders, such as depression or anxiety, and of non-suicidal self-harm (NSSH), suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts, when compared to cisgender people. Several theoretical models have been proposed to explain this elevated risk, including minority stress theory. However, few studies have explored the mechanisms that underpin these mental health inequalities using epidemiological methods. One mechanism often overlooked is microaggressions, which have been shown to increase the risk of poor mental health in minority ethnic communities and among disabled people. After outlining the background for this study (Chapter 1, introduction), I set out my study methods (Chapter 2) describing how I recruited a large sample of 1039 trans people to take part in an online cross-sectional survey to investigate whether microaggressions were associated with increases in depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, non-suicidal self-harm (NSSH), suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts. I also describe my second wave of data collection for those who provided their consent to be contacted for future research projects. In Chapter 3 (baseline study), I describe my first cross-sectional, baseline, study of microaggressions and their associations with depression, anxiety, non-suicidal self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts. My findings infer that when trans people experience more microaggressions this was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, NSSH, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempt. In Chapter 4 (follow-up study), I report findings from the follow-up sample of 209 people to investigate the longitudinal association between microaggressions and mental health outcomes, finding that those who experienced more frequent microaggressions at baseline had higher scores on depressive symptoms and anxiety one year later, as well as increased odds of suicidal thoughts. I did not find evidence to support longitudinal association with NSSH or suicide attempt. In Chapter 5 (subscale study), I aimed to build on the findings of Chapters 3 and 4 and examine the mechanism in which microaggressions play within the high prevalence of common mental health disorders. Here, I investigated specific types of microaggressions in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses to establish associations with specific mental health outcomes. I found evidence of cross-sectional associations between specific microaggression experiences and specific mental health outcomes but no evidence of longitudinal associations between specific microaggression experiences and mental health. In cross-sectional analyses, specific microaggressions were independently associated with specific outcomes: denial of gender identity with suicide attempts, misuse of pronouns with NSSH and suicidal thoughts, behavioural discomfort from others with depressive symptoms, and denial of societal transphobia with both depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms. I found no evidence that invasion of bodily privacy was independently associated with any of the five mental health outcomes. In my Discussion (Chapter 6), I suggest how microaggressions might play a role in the mental health burden of trans people. These commonplace, daily, slights, snubs, and insults regarding trans people appear to have serious effects on wellbeing. I discuss other important issues to address in future research on microaggressions and trans mental health, but also in developing and evaluating interventions. I consider the role that government and institutional policies could play in reducing discrimination against and harassment of trans people, and how this could benefit population mental health.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as XMLJSONCSV

Archive Staff Only

View Item