{"id":65930,"date":"2022-11-14T19:38:30","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T23:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=65930"},"modified":"2023-09-13T13:32:29","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T17:32:29","slug":"promoting-strength-and-resilience-among-transgender-and-nonbinary-adolescents","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2022\/promoting-strength-and-resilience-among-transgender-and-nonbinary-adolescents\/","title":{"rendered":"Promoting Strength and Resilience among Transgender and Nonbinary Adolescents"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin news-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-box has-media-focus-center-middle has-text-position-x-center has-tertiary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Applied human development<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPromoting Strength and Resilience among Transgender and Nonbinary Adolescents\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar js-block-editorial-metabar news-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">November 14, 2022<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/authors\/finn-gardiner\/\">Finn Gardiner<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>In a webinar on October 28, \u201cElevating the Voices of Transgender and Nonbinary Adolescents: Promoting Strength and Resilience,\u201d BU Wheelock faculty members <a href=\"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/profile\/melissa-k-holt\/\">Melissa Holt<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/profile\/jennifer-greif-green\/\">Jennifer Greif Green<\/a> and doctoral student <a href=\"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/profile\/aidan-d-kraus\/\">Aidan Kraus<\/a> shared their findings from a study of how transgender and nonbinary youth can remain strong and resilient in the face of systemic discrimination. Led by Holt, Green, Kraus, and a team of researchers at Boston University, Boston Children\u2019s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.projectavant.org\">Project AVANT<\/a> (Advancing the Voices of Adolescents Identifying as Nonbinary or Transgender) is the first national longitudinal study of transgender and nonbinary adolescents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Data for the study were collected from December 2020 to February 2021. Green, an associate professor of special education, says that the study is novel for the following reasons: youth were invited to participate via social media; the survey was longitudinal rather than cross-sectional; and the study focuses on the health, well-being, and school experiences of trans and nonbinary youth. Holt is BU Wheelock\u2019s associate dean for faculty affairs and an associate professor in counseling psychology, and Kraus is a second-year doctoral student. Watch the webinar now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wKN-WaU0Iz0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>Highlights from the Webinar<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Health Disparities among Trans and Nonbinary Youth<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The webinar began with an overview of the health disparities that trans and nonbinary youth face.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cWe know that gender-diverse youth experience health disparities. In regard to mental health, research has shown that rates of depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts are higher than among cisgender adolescents. . . . A national survey that came out in 2022 said that transgender and nonbinary youth were 2 to 2.5 times more likely to experience depressive symptoms, seriously consider suicide, and attempt suicide compared to their cisgender queer counterparts.\u201d <\/p><cite>\u2013Aidan Kraus<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>While trans and nonbinary youth are also more likely to struggle with drugs and alcohol than their peers, they <em>can<\/em> draw on sources of support to promote their resilience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cSchool connectedness; nondiscrimination policies at school and state levels; relational support, including family support; and Gay-Straight Alliance school groups have been shown to be forms of protective factors for this community of young people. . . . However, the research has focused on a deficit perspective as opposed to a strengths perspective.\u201d <\/p><cite>\u2013Aidan Kraus<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Key Findings of the Project AVANT Study<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Of the health disparities that the researchers found, they say the results are consistent with other findings in school-based and clinical samples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cAmong participants overall, 58% reported depression, 57% indicated nonsuicidal self-injury behaviors, 46% were classified as having probable PTSD, and 77% reported anxiety symptoms. . . In terms of substance use in the past 30 days, 30% stated they used alcohol, and 20% indicated they vaped.\u201d <\/p><cite>\u2013Melissa Holt<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>But transgender and gender-diverse youth are not defined solely by the hardships they face. The Project AVANT study identified four protective factors that promote resilience in these youth: social transitioning, social support, support from communities, and school context.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cStudents who transition socially by \u201c[changing] their gender expression, pronouns, and name to align with their gender identity report fewer mental health symptoms than gender-diverse youth who have not socially transitioned.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p><cite>\u2013 Melissa Holt<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h4>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/tag\/blog\/\">blog posts from BU Wheelock faculty and staff<\/a>.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a webinar on October 28, \u201cElevating the Voices of Transgender and Nonbinary Adolescents: Promoting Strength and Resilience,\u201d BU Wheelock faculty members Melissa Holt and Jennifer Greif Green and doctoral student Aidan Kraus shared their findings from a study of how transgender and nonbinary youth can remain strong and resilient in the face of systemic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9274,"featured_media":63591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Applied human development","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[6483,5132,4095],"bu-publication":[6614],"magazine-article-category":[],"magazine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[6744,6661,6743,6664,6648,6647,6660],"news-topic":[6789],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/65930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65930"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/65930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71107,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/65930\/revisions\/71107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65930"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=65930"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-article-category?post=65930"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-topic?post=65930"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=65930"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=65930"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=65930"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=65930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}