Mental Health Contributors Among Transgender People in a Non-WEIRD Society: Evidence From China

Transgender people face numerous social hurdles and consequently report elevated rates of mental health problems. However, little research has examined whether established mental health findings generalize to experiences of transgender people outside of Western contexts. In an analysis of the 2017 Chinese Transgender Population General Survey (N = 1,106), we examined how discrimination and environmental support in a school context related to mental health and self-harm among transgender people. We found that more frequent school discrimination was associated with worse mental health and increased self-harm. Further, perceived environmental support was associated with better mental health but was unrelated to self-harm. These relations did not differ based on whether people were out about being transgender at school or between men and women. These findings highlight nuance in the experiences of transgender people outside of Western contexts and hold implications for developing effective social interventions.

Automated summary

The study shows that discrimination in schools can negatively impact the mental health and self-harm behaviors of transgender individuals in China, while environmental support has a positive effect on mental health. These findings suggest the importance of addressing social interventions for transgender individuals in non-Western contexts.