Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research, Mainz, Germany.
Stress Health. 2023 Oct;39(4):782-797. doi: 10.1002/smi.3227. Epub 2023 Jan 27.
Childhood gender nonconformity (CGNC) seems to be associated with more mental health problems in adulthood. Previous research has suggested that this link might be mediated via the increased risk for aversive childhood experiences (ACEs) as a negative social reaction to CGNC. However, no study yet examined the role of resilience factors in this relationship. The present study aims to address this gap by examining the potential buffering effect of sense of coherence (SOC). In a German sample of 371 cisgender men, we used mediation models to investigate the relationship between CGNC, ACEs, and mental health problems in adulthood, that is, depressive symptoms, loneliness, and suicidal behavior. We then employed moderated mediation models to examine the buffering effect of SOC on the association ACEs and mental health problems. The results showed that higher levels of CGNC were associated with more severe adult mental health problems, with this link being partially mediated by higher levels of ACEs. For depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior in the last 12 months, we found evidence of a buffering effect of SOC. Higher levels of SOC were associated with a weaker association between ACEs and mental health problems. In contrast, this effect was absent for loneliness and lifetime suicidal behavior. Our study provides evidence that ACEs partly account for the relationship between CGNC and mental health in adulthood. Moreover, we found support for SOC having a buffering effect on this link. Future studies need to examine whether SOC might be an important target for resilience training in those experiencing CGNC. However, sustainable interventions may rather address the negative social reactions to CGNC.
儿童期性别不一致（CGNC）似乎与成年后更多的心理健康问题有关。先前的研究表明，这种联系可能是通过增加对负面社会反应的厌恶儿童经历（ACEs）的风险来介导的。然而，目前还没有研究检验在这种关系中适应力因素的作用。本研究旨在通过检验归属感（SOC）的潜在缓冲作用来解决这一差距。在一项针对 371 名顺性别男性的德国样本中，我们使用中介模型来研究 CGNC、ACEs 和成年后心理健康问题（即抑郁症状、孤独和自杀行为）之间的关系。然后，我们采用了调节中介模型来检验 SOC 对 ACEs 和心理健康问题之间关联的缓冲作用。结果表明，CGNC 水平越高，成年后心理健康问题越严重，这种联系部分是通过 ACEs 水平的升高来介导的。对于过去 12 个月的抑郁症状和自杀行为，我们发现 SOC 的缓冲效应存在证据。SOC 水平越高，ACEs 与心理健康问题之间的关联就越弱。相比之下，对于孤独和终生自杀行为，这种影响并不存在。我们的研究提供了证据表明，ACEs 在一定程度上解释了 CGNC 与成年后心理健康之间的关系。此外，我们发现 SOC 对这种联系具有缓冲作用。未来的研究需要检验 SOC 是否可能成为那些经历 CGNC 的人适应力训练的一个重要目标。然而，可持续的干预措施可能需要解决对 CGNC 的负面社会反应。
