Association Between Gender Minority Status and Mental Health in High School Students

Abstract

PurposeAdolescence 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. MethodsA 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. ResultsGender 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. DiscussionGender minority students experience a disproportionate burden of mental health problems. Services and programming should be adapted to better support gender minority high-school students.