(PS8-49) Gender Minority Stress: Associations with Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidal Ideation in a Clinical Sample

Transgender identity is often associated with substantial psychosocial stress. Within this context, transgender people experience mental health disparities. The minority stress model proposes that gender minorities experience unique stressors in gender non-affirming environments (e.g., prejudice, stigma, discrimination, etc.), which contribute to negative mental health outcomes. Meta-analytic research has found that gender minority stress is significantly associated with depression and anxiety symptoms (Wilson, Newins, Kassing, & Casanova, 2023). However, this same review also noted the scarcity of data collected from clinical samples and insufficient data to analyze associations between gender minority stress and suicidal ideation. The aim of the current study was to determine the relationship between gender minority stress, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation in a clinical sample of psychiatric inpatients. This study explored whether resilience moderated the relationship between minority stress and mental health symptoms. Participants were adults recruited from an inpatient psychiatric hospital (n = 45; M = 25 years old; SD = 7.66). Nearly half of the sample identified as transgender male or female (n = 20, 44.4%), and the remaining identified as non-binary (n = 25, 55.6%; e.g., agender, gender fluid, gender nonconforming). All participants were diagnosed with a mood disorder and/or suicidal ideation on admission, and suicide attempt preceded admission for nearly a third of the sample (n = 14, 31.1%). Participants completed self-report measures of proximal and distal gender minority stress (Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Measure), depression and anxiety (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales), and suicidal ideation (Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire). Consistent with findings from Wilson and colleagues (2023) proximal minority stress subscales (specifically internalized transphobia and negative expectations) demonstrated the strongest positive correlations with mental health symptoms (r range = 0.24 to 0.50). Distal minority subscales (Discrimination, Rejection, and Victimization) also correlated positively with mental health symptoms (r range = 0.08 to 0.48). Resilience subscales (Pride and Community Connectedness) demonstrated negative correlations with mental health symptoms (r range = -0.07 to -0.30); however, resilience did not moderate any stress-symptom relationships. These results underscore the relationship between gender minority stress and mental health symptoms in an inpatient sample. Findings indicate that there is a need to determine other forms of resilience which may be protective factors for inpatients experiencing gender minority stress. Data collection is ongoing and results will be presented from the larger sample.