Cull Steph L, Perrin Paul B, Henry Richard S
Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA.
School of Data Science, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2025 Feb 25;15(3):270. doi: 10.3390/bs15030270.
Religiosity has generally been shown to be a protective factor against adverse mental health in the general population. Transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) individuals, however, may not experience the same protective effects, as many religions are unsupportive of diverse gender identities. This study examined whether increased religiosity and having been rejected by a religious community because of one's gender identity were associated with mental health issues in TGNC individuals.
A sample of TGNC adults ( = 154), predominantly from the United States, completed an online survey assessing these constructs.
These constructs were highly represented in the sample, with 46.1% of participants having experienced religious rejection at some point throughout their lifetime because of their gender identity, 40.3% currently experiencing symptoms of elevated depression and 34.4% of elevated anxiety, and 48.7% with suicidal ideation over the past 2 weeks. Religious rejection was associated with increased depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Neither interpersonal nor intrapersonal religiosity was associated in a bivariate way with any of the three mental health outcomes. However, among participants who experienced rejection by one's religious community, interpersonal religiosity was strongly associated with increased depression symptoms and suicidal ideation, whereas conversely among TGNC individuals who had not experienced rejection by their religious community, interpersonal religiosity was weakly associated with depression and suicidal ideation.
The results underscore the extremely harmful effects of religious rejection due to one's gender identity on religious TGNC individuals, pointing to the active contributions of the behaviors of traditional religious groups towards TGNC mental health problems and suicide.
一般而言，宗教信仰被证明是普通人群心理健康的保护因素。然而，跨性别和性别不一致（TGNC）个体可能无法体验到同样的保护作用，因为许多宗教不支持多元性别认同。本研究调查了宗教信仰增强以及因性别认同而被宗教团体拒绝是否与TGNC个体的心理健康问题相关。
一个主要来自美国的TGNC成年人样本（n = 154）完成了一项评估这些构念的在线调查。
这些构念在样本中高度呈现，46.1%的参与者在其一生中曾因性别认同而经历过宗教拒绝，40.3%的参与者目前有抑郁症状加重，34.4%有焦虑症状加重，48.7%在过去两周有自杀意念。宗教拒绝与抑郁、焦虑和自杀意念增加相关。人际宗教信仰和个人宗教信仰在双变量分析中均与三种心理健康结果中的任何一种无关。然而，在经历过宗教团体拒绝的参与者中，人际宗教信仰与抑郁症状加重和自杀意念强烈相关，相反，在未经历过宗教团体拒绝的TGNC个体中，人际宗教信仰与抑郁和自杀意念弱相关。
结果强调了因性别认同而遭受宗教拒绝对有宗教信仰的TGNC个体产生的极其有害的影响，指出了传统宗教团体行为对TGNC心理健康问题和自杀的积极促成作用。
