IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v15y2018i3p508-d136080.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Internalized Transphobia, Resilience, and Mental Health: Applying the Psychological Mediation Framework to Italian Transgender Individuals

Author

Listed:
  • Cristiano Scandurra

    (Department of Neurosciences and Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Napoli, Italy)

  • Vincenzo Bochicchio

    (Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy)

  • Anna Lisa Amodeo

    (Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Naples Federico II, 80133 Napoli, Italy)

  • Concetta Esposito

    (Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Naples Federico II, 80133 Napoli, Italy)

  • Paolo Valerio

    (Department of Neurosciences and Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Napoli, Italy)

  • Nelson Mauro Maldonato

    (Department of Neurosciences and Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Napoli, Italy)

  • Dario Bacchini

    (Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Naples Federico II, 80133 Napoli, Italy)

  • Roberto Vitelli

    (Department of Neurosciences and Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Napoli, Italy)

Abstract

Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people are a highly-stigmatized population. For this reason, they might internalize society’s normative gender attitudes and develop negative mental health outcomes. As an extension of the minority stress model, the psychological mediation framework sheds light on psychological processes through which anti-transgender discrimination might affect mental health. Within this framework, the current study aimed at assessing in 149 TGNC Italian individuals the role of internalized transphobia as a mediator between anti-transgender discrimination and mental health, considering resilience as the individual-level coping mechanism buffering this relationship. The results suggest that both indicators of internalized transphobia (i.e., shame and alienation) mediate the relationship between anti-transgender discrimination and depression, while only alienation mediates the relationship between anti-transgender discrimination and anxiety. Furthermore, the results suggest that the indirect relation between anti-transgender discrimination and anxiety through alienation is conditional on low and moderate levels of resilience. Findings have important implications for clinical practice and psycho-social interventions to reduce stigma and stress caused by interpersonal and individual stigma.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristiano Scandurra & Vincenzo Bochicchio & Anna Lisa Amodeo & Concetta Esposito & Paolo Valerio & Nelson Mauro Maldonato & Dario Bacchini & Roberto Vitelli, 2018. "Internalized Transphobia, Resilience, and Mental Health: Applying the Psychological Mediation Framework to Italian Transgender Individuals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:3:p:508-:d:136080
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/3/508/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/3/508/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. White Hughto, Jaclyn M. & Reisner, Sari L. & Pachankis, John E., 2015. "Transgender stigma and health: A critical review of stigma determinants, mechanisms, and interventions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 222-231.
    2. Meyer, Ilan H. & Schwartz, Sharon & Frost, David M., 2008. "Social patterning of stress and coping: Does disadvantaged social statuses confer more stress and fewer coping resources?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 368-379, August.
    3. Bradford, J. & Reisner, S.L. & Honnold, J.A. & Xavier, J., 2013. "Experiences of transgender-related discrimination and implications for health: Results from the Virginia transgender health initiative study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(10), pages 1820-1829.
    4. Clements-Nolle, K. & Marx, R. & Guzman, R. & Katz, M., 2001. "HIV prevalence, risk behaviors, health care use, and mental health status of transgender persons: Implications for public health intervention," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(6), pages 915-921.
    5. Bariola, E. & Lyons, A. & Leonard, W. & Pitts, M. & Badcock, P. & Couch, M., 2015. "Demographic and psychosocial factors associated with psychological distress and resilience among transgender individuals," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(10), pages 2108-2116.
    6. Meyer, I.H., 2003. "Prejudice as stress: Conceptual and measurement problems," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(2), pages 262-265.
    7. Bockting, W.O. & Miner, M.H. & Swinburne Romine, R.E. & Hamilton, A. & Coleman, E., 2013. "Stigma, mental health, and resilience in an online sample of the US transgender population," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(5), pages 943-951.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liu Lu & Wei Wei, 2023. "Influence of Public Sports Services on Residents’ Mental Health at Communities Level: New Insights from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Cristiano Scandurra & Agostino Carbone & Roberto Baiocco & Selene Mezzalira & Nelson Mauro Maldonato & Vincenzo Bochicchio, 2021. "Gender Identity Milestones, Minority Stress and Mental Health in Three Generational Cohorts of Italian Binary and Nonbinary Transgender People," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Annalisa Anzani & Chiara De Panfilis & Cristiano Scandurra & Antonio Prunas, 2020. "Personality Disorders and Personality Profiles in a Sample of Transgender Individuals Requesting Gender-Affirming Treatments," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-16, February.
    4. O'Donnell, Aisling T. & Foran, Aoife-Marie, 2024. "The link between anticipated and internalized stigma and depression: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    5. Cristiano Scandurra & Concetta Esposito & Francesco Fantacci & Lorenzo Borrello & Vincenzo Bochicchio & Daniel Giunti & Paolo Antonelli, 2023. "Social Support, Identity Affirmation, and Psychological Well-Being: A Developmental and Intersectional Comparison between Italian Cisgender and Non-Binary People with Bisexual Orientation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-16, February.
    6. Anna Lisa Amodeo & Concetta Esposito & Vincenzo Bochicchio & Paolo Valerio & Roberto Vitelli & Dario Bacchini & Cristiano Scandurra, 2018. "Parenting Desire and Minority Stress in Lesbians and Gay Men: A Mediation Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-16, October.
    7. Mariana Henriques & Henrique Pereira, 2024. "Psychosexual Health and Well-Being of Trans and Gender-Diverse Individuals in Portugal," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-32, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Danya Lagos, 2018. "Looking at Population Health Beyond “Male” and “Female”: Implications of Transgender Identity and Gender Nonconformity for Population Health," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2097-2117, December.
    2. King, Wesley M. & Hughto, Jaclyn M.W. & Operario, Don, 2020. "Transgender stigma: A critical scoping review of definitions, domains, and measures used in empirical research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    3. White Hughto, Jaclyn M. & Reisner, Sari L. & Pachankis, John E., 2015. "Transgender stigma and health: A critical review of stigma determinants, mechanisms, and interventions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 222-231.
    4. Clark, Kirsty A. & White Hughto, Jaclyn M. & Pachankis, John E., 2017. "“What's the right thing to do?” Correctional healthcare providers' knowledge, attitudes and experiences caring for transgender inmates," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 80-89.
    5. Kia, Hannah & MacKinnon, Kinnon Ross & Abramovich, Alex & Bonato, Sarah, 2021. "Peer support as a protective factor against suicide in trans populations: A scoping review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    6. Thespina Yamanis & Mannat Malik & Ana María Del Río-González & Andrea L. Wirtz & Erin Cooney & Maren Lujan & Ruby Corado & Tonia Poteat, 2018. "Legal Immigration Status is Associated with Depressive Symptoms among Latina Transgender Women in Washington, DC," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-15, June.
    7. Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad Abbas & Virdah Iram Gull & Khalid Ghaffar, 2018. "The Impact of Social Support on Psychological Distress among Khawajasira Community: The Mediated Effect of Self-Efficacy," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 9(6), pages 36-40.
    8. Lewis, Tom & Doyle, David Matthew & Barreto, Manuela & Jackson, Debby, 2021. "Social relationship experiences of transgender people and their relational partners: A meta-synthesis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    9. Amerikaner, Layne & Yan, Hope Xu & Sayer, Liana C. & Doan, Long & Fish, Jessica N. & Drotning, Kelsey J. & Rinderknecht, R. Gordon, 2023. "Blurred border or safe harbor? Emotional well-being among sexual and gender minority adults working from home during COVID-19," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    10. Luca Fumarco & Benjamin Harrell & Patrick Button & David Schwegman & E Dils, 2020. "Gender Identity, Race, and Ethnicity-based Discrimination in Access to Mental Health Care: Evidence from an Audit Correspondence Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 28164, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Ethan C Cicero & Sari L Reisner & Elizabeth I Merwin & Janice C Humphreys & Susan G Silva, 2020. "The health status of transgender and gender nonbinary adults in the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-20, February.
    12. Cristiano Scandurra & Agostino Carbone & Roberto Baiocco & Selene Mezzalira & Nelson Mauro Maldonato & Vincenzo Bochicchio, 2021. "Gender Identity Milestones, Minority Stress and Mental Health in Three Generational Cohorts of Italian Binary and Nonbinary Transgender People," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-14, August.
    13. Gordon, Allegra R. & Austin, S. Bryn & Krieger, Nancy & White Hughto, Jaclyn M. & Reisner, Sari L., 2016. "“I have to constantly prove to myself, to people, that I fit the bill”: Perspectives on weight and shape control behaviors among low-income, ethnically diverse young transgender women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 141-149.
    14. Matthew Heinz & Devon MacFarlane, 2013. "Island Lives," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(3), pages 21582440135, September.
    15. Hannah Van Borm & Marlot Dhoop & Allien Van Acker & Stijn Baert, 2020. "What does someone's gender identity signal to employers?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(6), pages 753-777, March.
    16. Pachankis, John E. & Hatzenbuehler, Mark L. & Starks, Tyrel J., 2014. "The influence of structural stigma and rejection sensitivity on young sexual minority men's daily tobacco and alcohol use," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 67-75.
    17. Lukachko, Alicia & Hatzenbuehler, Mark L. & Keyes, Katherine M., 2014. "Structural racism and myocardial infarction in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 42-50.
    18. Edward McCann & Michael Brown, 2017. "Discrimination and resilience and the needs of people who identify as Transgender: A narrative review of quantitative research studies," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(23-24), pages 4080-4093, December.
    19. Matthew Heinz, 2018. "Communicating While Transgender: Apprehension, Loneliness, and Willingness to Communicate in a Canadian Sample," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(2), pages 21582440187, May.
    20. Davide Costa, 2023. "Transgender Health between Barriers: A Scoping Review and Integrated Strategies," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-29, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:3:p:508-:d:136080. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.