Association between gender minority status and mental health in high school students

White, J., Moore, L. , Cannings-John, R., Hawkins, J., Bonell, C., Hickman, M., Zammit, S. and Adara, L. (2023) Association between gender minority status and mental health in high school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 72(5), pp. 811-814. (doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.12.028) (PMID:36809864)

Abstract

Purpose: Adolescence is a phase when young people begin to explore their gender identity. Adolescents who identify as a gender minority are vulnerable to experiencing mental health problems due to stigmatization of their identity. Methods: A population-wide study compared gender minority and cisgender students (aged 13–14 years) self-reported symptoms of probable depression, anxiety, and conduct disorder, and auditory hallucinations, including the distress and frequency of hallucinations. Results: Gender minority students compared to cisgender students had four times the odds of reporting a probable depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, auditory hallucinations, but not conduct disorder. Of those who reported a hallucination, gender minority students were more likely to report hearing them daily but were no more likely to find them distressing. Discussion: Gender minority students experience a disproportionate burden of mental health problems. Services and programming should be adapted to better support gender minority high-school students.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Public Health Research program, grant number NIHR PHR 17/97/02; The Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer), a UKCRC Public Health Research Centre of Excellence. Joint funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, The Welsh Government and The Wellcome Trust, under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, and the Welsh Government through Health and Care Research Wales (MR/KO232331/1); the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/1) and the Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU16). S.Z. is supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bristol.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Moore, Professor Laurence
• Authors: White, J., Moore, L., Cannings-John, R., Hawkins, J., Bonell, C., Hickman, M., Zammit, S., and Adara, L.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
• Journal Name: Journal of Adolescent Health
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 1054-139X
• ISSN (Online): 1879-1972
• Published Online: 19 February 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
• First Published: First published in Journal of Adolescent Health 72(5): 811-814
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
304823001	1	Complexity in health	Sharon Simpson	Medical Research Council (MRC)	MC_UU_00022/1	HW - MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit
304823006	1	Complexity in health	Sharon Simpson	Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSO)	SPHSU16	HW - MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit