Department of Public Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United States of America.
Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2020 Oct 5;15(10):e0240295. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240295. eCollection 2020.
Trans individuals (e.g. trans men and women, non-binary, gender fluid) are at higher risk for mental health concerns, in part due to marginalization. Previous work has documented the effects of social support and community engagement on health outcomes. However, individuals' perceptions of community engagement effects may point to opportunities for intervention. This mixed methods study examines trans individuals' perceived effects of participating in trans communities on health outcomes. Semi-structured in-person interviews were conducted with 20 individuals, and 60 individuals participated in cross-sectional online surveys. Perceived discrimination had a strong negative association with self-assessed mental health. Effects of participation included a) positive: contextualization and normalization of experience, self-appraisal, safety, and relief; and b) neutral/negative: energy drain and stigmatization. Effects of not participating included loneliness, depression, isolation, hiding identity, and losing resources. Both discrimination and non-participation in trans communities had negative effects on mental health. Though community participation is often discussed as positive for marginalized populations, it may be important to include possible negative effects (such as energy drain) in research.
跨性别者（例如跨性别男性、跨性别女性、非二元性别、性别流动者）由于边缘化而面临更高的心理健康问题风险。之前的研究已经记录了社会支持和社区参与对健康结果的影响。然而，个体对社区参与效果的感知可能会为干预提供机会。这项混合方法研究考察了跨性别者参与跨性别社区对健康结果的感知效果。对 20 名个体进行了半结构化的面对面访谈，并对 60 名个体进行了横断面在线调查。感知到的歧视与自我评估的心理健康状况呈强烈负相关。参与的效果包括：a）积极的：经历的背景化和正常化、自我评估、安全感和缓解；以及 b）中性/消极的：能量消耗和污名化。不参与的效果包括孤独、抑郁、孤立、隐藏身份和失去资源。歧视和不参与跨性别社区都对心理健康产生负面影响。虽然社区参与通常被讨论为边缘化人群的积极因素，但在研究中纳入可能的负面效果（如能量消耗）可能很重要。
