Resilience in individuals with gender dysphoria: Association with perceived social support and discrimination

Objective: Psychological distress associated with discrimination has been proposed to have an indirect effect on the development of mental disorders through negative influence on an individual's cognitive, affective, and social coping strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between resilience, perceived social support, and perceived discrimination in individuals with gender dysphoria. Method: Individuals with gender dysphoria were assessed with Turkish validated forms of Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Perceived Discrimination Scale (PDS), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Diagnoses of mental disorders, history of suicide attempt, and non-suicidal self-injury were assessed by clinical interviews. Self-report forms were used to obtain demographic information and gender transition-related features. Results: The participants (n=116, 88 trans men) had a median age of 25. Significantly low RSA scores, indicating poor resilience, were obtained from participants with lifetime (59.5%) and present (27.6%) diagnosis of any mental disorder and history of suicide attempt (23.3%). There was significant direct correlation between RSA and MSPSS scores, inverse correlation with BDI, and personal PDS scores, but not with group PDS. Regression analysis revealed that only the friends domain score in MSPSS predicted better resilience, whereas the personal PDS predicted poor resilience. Conclusion: Based on our data, these findings support the association between poor resilience and vulnerability to mental and behavioral problems in individuals with gender dysphoria. The associations reveal the significance of addressing discrimination and assisting individuals with gender dysphoria to develop strategies for peer support in mental health services.