Latent Profiles of Perceived Social Support and Their Impact on Suicidal Behavior in Chinese Gender Minorities: A Mediated Model

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Background Gender minority face significant health challenges, with social support playing a crucial role in mitigating these issues. However, the impact of various social support profiles on suicidal behavior among gender minorities in China, a country with an Eastern collectivist culture, remains underexplored. Objective This study aimed to examine how social support profiles affect suicidal behavior in Chinese gender minority, with a focus on the mediating roles of appearance congruence and gender identity acceptance. Methods This study involved 419 Chinese gender minority, recruited in December 2020. Latent profile analysis was conducted with Mplus (version 8.3) to classify different social support profiles. Additionally, mediation analyses using the PROCESS macro (version 3.5) were performed to explore the relationship between these social support profiles and suicidal behavior. The mediating roles of appearance congruence and acceptance of gender identity were examined within these pathways. Results Four social support profiles were identified: Low Social Support (LSS; 22.2%), Middle Social Support (MSS; 31.0%), Low Family Support (LFS; 20.5%), and High Social Support (HSS; 26.3%). The LSS profile exhibited the highest rates of suicidal behavior, while the LFS and MSS profiles showed no significant differences in suicide rates (p = 0.77, 95% CI [–0.86, 1.16]). Additionally, appearance congruence mediated the relationship between social support and suicidal behavior for MSS, LFS, and LSS profiles, with indirect effects of 0.12, 0.06, and 0.14, respectively. Only the LSS profile showed an indirect effect on suicidal behavior through gender identity acceptance, with an effect size of 0.06. Discussion Our study examines how collectivist cultural norms, particularly Confucian family ideals, influence social support and mental health outcomes among Chinese gender minorities. By applying Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), we identify distinct social support profiles and emphasize the crucial role of family support in mitigating suicidal behavior. These findings provide a foundation for culturally sensitive interventions tailored to the needs of Chinese gender minorities, offering insights.