Award Date

12-1-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychiatry and Behavioral Health

First Committee Member

Sara Jordan

Second Committee Member

Vaida Kazlauskaite

Third Committee Member

Katherine Hertlein

Fourth Committee Member

Jason Flatt

Abstract

Purpose: Gender may align with one’s sex but doesn’t always and sometimes leads to Gender Dysphoria (GD). Gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) is often one of the first medical treatments used for GD yet few studies have examined the effects of GAHT on mental health (depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation).Methods: Participants were 18 years or older and self-reported as being diagnosed with GD and recruited across the United States using snowball and convenience sampling. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to measure depression scores, General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) was used to measure anxiety scores, and Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R) was used to measure suicidal ideation scores. Results: Two MANOVAs were measured whether the length of time since using GAHT is associated with depression scores, anxiety scores, or suicidal ideation among transgender adults and if having at least one gender-affirming surgery is associated with one’s depression score, one’s anxiety score, or one’s suicidal ideation score. The results found no significant findings. Conclusions: While we didn’t find significant results, further research is needed to better understand the relationship between GAHT and mental health co-occurring conditions. Findings concluded that there were no significant differences between means when examining the length of time on GAHT and each of the dependent variables (one’s depression scores, anxiety, or suicidal ideation scores). Also, no significant difference between means was found between having at least one gender-affirming surgery and any of the dependent variables (one’s depression, anxiety, and one’s suicidal ideation scores). One reason for the findings may have been that those that elected to participate in the study may be more stable emotionally and psychologically than those who decided not to participate in the study.

Disciplines

Mental and Social Health

File Format

pdf

File Size

8300 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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