Suicidality, Self-Harm, and Body Dissatisfaction in Transgender Adolescents and Emerging Adults with Gender Dysphoria

Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2017 Aug;47(4):475-482. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12289. Epub 2016 Aug 19.

Abstract

Prevalence of suicide attempts, self-injurious behaviors, and associated psychosocial factors were examined in a clinical sample of transgender (TG) adolescents and emerging adults (n = 96). Twenty-seven (30.3%) TG youth reported a history of at least one suicide attempt and 40 (41.8%) reported a history of self-injurious behaviors. There was a higher frequency of suicide attempts in TG youth with a desire for weight change, and more female-to-male youth reported a history of suicide attempts and self-harm behaviors than male-to-female youth. Findings indicate that this population is at a high risk for psychiatric comorbidities and life-threatening behaviors.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Body Image / psychology*
  • Emotions
  • Female
  • Gender Dysphoria / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Medical Audit
  • Prevalence
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Self-Injurious Behavior / psychology*
  • Suicidal Ideation*
  • Suicide / psychology
  • Suicide, Attempted / psychology
  • Suicide, Attempted / statistics & numerical data
  • Transgender Persons / psychology*
  • Young Adult