Belmont Natasha, Cronin Timothy J, Pepping Christopher A
School of Psychology & Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
Int J Transgend Health. 2023 Sep 15;25(1):50-62. doi: 10.1080/26895269.2023.2252418. eCollection 2024.
Transgender and gender diverse young people (TGDY) are at higher risk of psychosocial distress relative to their cisgender counterparts. TGDY rely heavily on their parents to support their desired affirmation and to facilitate access to legal and medical affirmation. While it is well understood that parent conflict negatively impacts the well-being of children and young people, little is known about how parental conflict and parental affirmation support are related to TGDY well-being. The aim of the present study was to (1) explore affirmation experiences of TGDY, as reported by their parents, focusing in particular on parental support for affirmation and barriers to affirmation, and (2) test whether parental support and aspects of the coparenting relationship predicted TGDY mental health outcomes. : A sample of 63 parents (Mage = 45.71 years) of TGDY (aged 11 to 17 years) completed an online survey. Almost 90% of the TGDY reported on had socially affirmed their gender, though fewer had taken steps to legally or medically affirm their gender. Parental support for affirmation was generally very high, and reported discrepancies between coparents were generally low; however, discrepancies were greatest for medical affirmation. Finally, parent support for affirmation was a strong predictor of lower TGDY depressive symptoms, though parental conflict did not predict TGDY mental health. Results highlight the important role of parental support for gender affirmation. Further research is needed to track the role of parental support and affirmation on TGDY well-being over time, and to ensure that such research is completed with more diverse samples.
跨性别和性别多样化的年轻人（TGDY）相对于他们的顺性别同龄人，面临心理社会困扰的风险更高。TGDY严重依赖父母来支持他们所期望的认同，并促进获得法律和医学上的认同。虽然人们很清楚父母冲突会对儿童和年轻人的幸福产生负面影响，但对于父母冲突和父母认同支持如何与TGDY的幸福相关却知之甚少。本研究的目的是：（1）探讨父母报告的TGDY的认同经历，特别关注父母对认同的支持和认同的障碍；（2）测试父母的支持和共同养育关系的各个方面是否能预测TGDY的心理健康结果。63名TGDY（年龄在11至17岁之间）的父母（平均年龄=45.71岁）完成了一项在线调查。几乎90%的被报告的TGDY在社会上认同了他们的性别，不过采取法律或医学手段认同自己性别的人较少。父母对认同的支持总体上非常高，报告的父母之间的差异总体上较低；然而，在医学认同方面差异最大。最后，父母对认同的支持是TGDY抑郁症状减轻的有力预测因素，尽管父母冲突并不能预测TGDY的心理健康。研究结果凸显了父母支持对性别认同的重要作用。需要进一步研究来追踪父母支持和认同对TGDY幸福感的长期作用，并确保此类研究采用更多样化的样本完成。
