Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the prevalence of depression and to determine the association between social support and depression among transgender women in Bangkok, Thailand.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional study was conducted among 280 transgender women in Bangkok, Thailand between March 2019 and May 2019 using the snowball sampling method. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic questions and measures of social support (MSPSS) and depression (CES-D). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to explore the association between social support and depression.FindingsThe prevalence of depression among transgender women was 58.2%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that depression was significantly associated with perceived low social support (OR: 9.55, 95%CI: 2.10–43.39) and moderate social support (OR: 2.03, 95%CI: 1.19–3.46) after being adjusted for religion, sufficient income and alcohol drinking.Originality/valueTransgender women were prone to experience a higher prevalence of depression than the general population. Social support would reduce the risk of depression among transgender women. Therefore, social support service systems for transgender women should be embedded into organizations concerned.
Highlights
The word “transgender”, is an umbrella term used to describe people with diverse representation or having difficulties identifying their gender or gender roles in society [1]
This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of depression and to study the association between perceived social support and depression of Bangkok’s transgender women
This study found that transgender women tended to experience approximately 19 times higher depression than the general population
Summary
The word “transgender”, is an umbrella term used to describe people with diverse representation or having difficulties identifying their gender or gender roles in society [1]. It was found that those who identified as transgender had a greater risk of having depressive symptoms than lesbian, gay and bisexual [2]. Depression is one of the most common mental disorders and has become an important global public health issue. Based on the national household survey, about 1.5 m of those 15 years of age and over have suffered from depression; out of this figure, the prevalence of depression among women was comparatively 1.7 times higher than among men [4]. One of the findings indicated that transgender women have a greater chance of developing mental disorders [5]. The National LGBTI Health Alliance revealed that transgenders aged 18 and above have an approximately five times higher chance of being diagnosed with depression than the general
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