Abstract
Purpose
This study documented the prevalence of mental health problems among transgender youth
in Canada and made comparisons with population-based studies. This study also compared
gender identity subgroups and age subgroups (14–18 and 19–25).
Methods
A nonprobability sample of 923 transgender youth from Canada completed an online survey.
Participants were recruited through community organizations, health care settings,
social media, and researchers' networks. Mental health measures were drawn from the
British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey and the Canadian Community Health Survey.
Results
Transgender youth had a higher risk of reporting psychological distress, self-harm,
major depressive episodes, and suicide. For example, 65% of transgender 14- to 18-year
olds seriously considered suicide in the past year compared with 13% in the British
Columbia Adolescent Health Survey, and only a quarter of participants reported their
mental health was good or excellent. Transgender boys/men and nonbinary youth were
most likely to report self-harm and overall mental health remained stable across age
subgroups.
Conclusions
Although a notable minority of transgender youth did not report negative health outcomes,
this study shows the mental health disparities faced by transgender youth in Canada
are considerable.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
September 6,
2016
Received:
June 1,
2016
Footnotes
Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.
