Exploring rates of transgender individuals and mental health concerns in an online sample

Background: Prevalence estimates of adults identifying as transgender are scarce, particularly in the United States. Method: The current study endeavored to estimate the prevalence of individuals identifying as transgender in a large online sample of adult U.S. residents (n = 6,727) and compare the prevalence of common mental health disorders (depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and the age of onset for individuals identifying as men or women versus those identifying as transgender. Results: The prevalence estimate of individuals identifying as transgender was 0.8%. Individuals identifying as transgender were significantly more likely than individuals identifying as men or women to report having had a single diagnosis or co-occurring diagnoses for all three disorders examined. Additionally, transgender individuals were more likely than individuals identifying as men or women to receive a diagnosis of anxiety or depression at a younger age. Conclusion: Given the prevalence of transgender individuals and the associations with common mental health conditions, clinicians must be informed and competent to care for their clinical needs. This study introduces online crowdsourcing resources as a potentially fruitful option for reaching and researching gender diversity.     

Effects of in-group and out-group support on behavioral consistency: The majority and minority in the context of an intergroup belief cross

Abstract:   The present study investigated the social determinants required to stimulate consistency in minority members' attitudes and behavior. The experiment was designed to examine the consistency of individuals in the context of an intergroup belief cross wherein the majority belief (or minority) in a categorical in-group shifted to the minority (or majority) in the out-group. The results indicated that the members of a majority within an in-group consistently preserved their behavioral intentions and beliefs even though they were positioned as a minority within an out-group. That is, the minority members in the whole intergroup context maintained consistency diachronically as a result of support from the majority of their in-group. The theoretical implications on the consistency of minority members, such as whistle-blowers in companies, are discussed.     

The relationship between perceived religious discrimination and self‐esteem for Muslim Australians

Muslim Australians represent one of the fastest growing migrant groups in Australia. They are also the group who, after Indigenous Australians, experience the most discrimination. Previous research on the minority stress model confirms a link between such discrimination and mental health. However, in relation to self‐esteem and discrimination, the results are mixed, potentially reflecting whether people reject or identify with prejudiced views of them and also the type of discrimination being measured. To explore this issue further in an Australian context, we asked 49 Australian Muslims to complete Rosenberg's Self‐esteem Scale and the Perceived Religious Discrimination Scale. In support of both the minority stress model and the rejection‐identification model, we found that perceived interpersonal and systemic discrimination accounts for a small but significant variation in self‐esteem. Interpersonal discrimination was negatively related to self‐esteem, and systemic discrimination positively related. The effects of interpersonal discrimination on self‐esteem can guide therapists to interventions that help clients resist internalising discrimination experiences. The effects of institutional discrimination support therapists becoming part of the resistance to and challenging of discrimination and inequality.     

Internalization of the thin ideal among low-income ethnic minority adolescent girls

Internalization of the thin ideal has been thought to occur disproportionately among Caucasian, upper-class girls and women. The current research challenges this view by assessing thin-ideal internalization among low-income ethnic minority girls (N = 48). This research identifies differences between low-income ethnic minority adolescent girls who highly internalize the thin ideal (HI) and those who have lower internalization of thinness (LI). Results indicate that HI and LI groups do not differ based on ethnicity or weight categorization. Body satisfaction, competence, and perceived sociocultural pressure were analyzed as individual differences between HI versus LI participants. Those in the LI group have higher athletic competence and body satisfaction ratings for weight compared to the HI group. By identifying differences in thin-ideal internalization in this understudied population, factors that may protect someone from endorsing the thin ideal may be discovered.     

Minority stress and health: Implications for lesbian,gay, bisexual,transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people

Historically, the pathologization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) orientations shaped research and professional practice, while the impact of stigma was not considered. Within a minority stress conceptualization however, stigma-related prejudice and discrimination experienced by LGBTQ people constitute chronically stressful events that can lead to negative health outcomes. Minority stress has been linked to psychological distress among gay men and lesbians and may contribute to elevated rates of distress frequently observed among LGBTQ youth. This study explored the impact of minority stress on psychological distress among LGBTQ youth in Ireland. Measures assessing three components of minority stress (sexual identity distress, stigma consciousness, and heterosexist experiences) were administered online to LGBTQ youth aged 16–24 years (N = 301). Each minority stressor had a significant independent association with distress. Stepwise regression analyses identified the linear combination of minority stressors as significantly predictive of distress [F(3,201) = 30.80, p ≤ 0.001]. Results suggest that the oppressive social environment created through sexual/transgender identity-related stigma negatively impacts on the well-being of LGBTQ youth. These findings have implications for health professionals and policy makers interested in the concerns of LGBTQ youth experiencing difficulties related to minority status and will facilitate the development and tailoring of interventions aimed at reaching those most at risk.     

Environmental Correlates of Gambling Behavior in Urban Adolescents

The present study considered the relation between adolescent gambling behavior and the perceived environment, the component of Jessor and Jessor’s (1977) Problem Behavior Theory that assesses the ways that adolescents perceive the attitudes and behaviors of parents and peers. The predominantly African-American sample included 188 sophomores from two urban public high schools. Using the South Oaks Gambling Screen-Revised for Adolescents to assess gambling risk, rates of both at-risk (20.7%) and problem (12.8%) gambling were found to be high. Boys displayed more gambling problems than did girls. The perceived environment accounted for significant variance in gambling problems and frequency, with proximal components displaying stronger relationships than distal components. Perceiving parent gambling and friend models for problem behavior were positively correlated with gambling problems, and friend models were positively related to gambling frequency. Among girls, family support was positively related to gambling problems. Among boys, this relation was negative. The authors Emerson M. Wickwire, Jr. James P. Whelan, and Andrew W. Meyers are members of The Institute for Gambling Education and Research, Department of Psychology, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN. The primary research interest of this group is the prevention and treatment of gambling related problems. David M. Murray, Ph.D., is the Chair of the Division of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.     

The Minority-Majority Conundrum in Northern Ireland: An Orange Order Perspective

Researchers have argued that, depending on the framing of the Northern Ireland conflict, each group could either be a minority or a majority relative to the other. This complicates macrosocial explanations of the conflict which make specific predictions on the basis of minority or majority positions. The present paper argues that this conundrum may have arisen from the inherent variability in microidentity processes that do not fit easily with macroexplanations. In this paper the rhetoric of relative group position is analysed in political speeches delivered by leading members of an influential Protestant institution in Northern Ireland. It is apparent that minority and majority claims are not fixed but are flexibly used to achieve local rhetorical goals. Furthermore, the speeches differ before and after the Good Friday Agreement, with a reactionary "hegemonic" Unionist position giving way to a "majority-rights power sharing" argument and a "pseudo-minority" status giving way to a "disempowered minority" argument. These results suggest a view of the Northern Ireland conflict as a struggle for "symbolic power," i.e., the ability to flexibly define the intergroup situation to the ingroup's advantage.     

The Relationship Between Religious Coping Style and Anxiety over Breast Cancer in African American Women

In this study, we investigated the relationship between religious coping style and anxiety related to breast cancer and the use of mammography in a sample of African American women. We also assessed the relationship of breast cancer anxiety to related variables such as church affiliation and attendance, church teachings on health, and acceptance of those teachings.     

The Effects of a Self-sacrificing Minority on Pro-environmental Norms and Behavior: An Investigation Using a Sea Pollution Game

This research investigated how a minority member sacrificing his/her personal benefits to protect the environment might influence the attitudes and behavior of others. The experiment, using a sea pollution game, employed a 2(minority factor)×2(cost factor) factorial design. Under the high-cost condition, in which an ecological minority bears the substantial cost it was hypothesized that the rate of subjects' pro-environmental behavior would be higher in the one-minority case than in the no-minority case. In contrast, under the low-cost condition, the differences between these two cases would decrease. The results supported this assumption. In prompting pro-environmental behavior, a self-sacrification minority member is more influential than one whose behavior is not self-sacrificing. Moreover, under the one-minority condition, path analyses indicated that the subjects' cost evaluation did not affect their behavior. It was concluded that when the subjects saw an ecological minority, the inhibiting effects of cost on their pro-environmental behavior would decrease.     

Comprehension of symbolic gestures in aphasia

One-hundred-and-twenty-eight patients with unilateral hemispheric damage (53 aphasics, 26 nonaphasic left, and 49 right brain-damaged patients) and 25 normal controls were given a test of symbolic gesture comprehension and other tests of verbal comprehension and of reproduction of symbolic gestures. On the test of symbolic gesture interpretation aphasic patients performed significantly worse than any other group of brain-damaged patients. Within the aphasic patients the inability to understand the meaning of symbolic gestures was highly related to the number of semantic errors obtained at a verbal comprehension test. On the contrary, only a mild relationship was found between comprehension and reproduction of symbolic gestures. Some implications of these findings are discussed.