Project Type
Poster
Publication Date
4-5-2022
Department or Program
Psychological Science
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Faculty Mentor #1
Wilson, Laura
Abstract
Transgender people experience disproportionate rates of discrimination and marginalization. These negative life experiences influence mental health, such that trans people often struggle with poor mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study, a transgender sample was examined to see whether these mental health outcomes were different between trans men and trans women. Based on the previous research done in this area, I hypothesized that trans women would report higher rates of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. The sample was found through the paid platform Prolific, and was surveyed on these mental health outcomes using the standard measures: the PHQ-9, GAD-7, and PCL-5 respectively. Three t tests were performed to examine the potential differences between trans men and trans women, all three of which had insignificant results. However, trans men had the higher average score on all three measures, which does not match the previous literature. While the results were not found to be significant, it just shows that more research is needed in this area to better examine how mental health outcomes can differ within the transgender community.