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Minority Stress, Resilience, and Mental Health: A Study of Italian Transgender People
Author(s) -
Scandurra Cristiano,
Amodeo Anna Lisa,
Valerio Paolo,
Bochicchio Vincenzo,
Frost David M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/josi.12232
Subject(s) - transphobia , transgender , mental health , minority stress , psychology , prejudice (legal term) , psychological resilience , population , nonconformity , social support , psychological intervention , health equity , clinical psychology , social psychology , public health , sexual orientation , sexual minority , medicine , psychiatry , environmental health , nursing , psychoanalysis , operations management , economics
Transgender people often experience oppression because of gender nonconformity. They represent an extremely stigmatized population at high risk of developing mental health problems. The minority stress model is a theoretical model used to understand social stigma as a potential cause of mental health disparities faced by the transgender population. In Italy, studies applying this model to the transgender population are limited. The current study applied the minority stress model to a sample of Italian transgender people ( n = 149), analyzing effects of prejudice events, expectations of rejection, and internalized transphobia, and their interaction with protective factors (resilience and social support), on mental health. The results suggest that exposure to everyday discrimination and internalized transphobia are associated with increased mental health problems, while perceived social support from family and resilience significantly reduced the strength of association between everyday discrimination and mental health. Findings have important implications for both social issues and policies.