Gender Identity, Violence, Community Connectedness, and Mental and Social Well-being

• In Event: 40820 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 17: Gender and Violence

Abstract

LGBT individuals experience high levels of violence with transgender and gender nonconforming individuals often reporting the highest rates of violence (Lombardi et al. 2002; Stotzer 2009). This study uses the combined Generations and Transpop surveys (2016-2018) to explore the influence of violence on mental and social well-being among LGBT adults, how these associations differ by gender identity, and whether community connectedness buffers these negative impacts. Transgender women and nonbinary individuals report more violence than cisgender men. Greater levels of violence are associated with higher psychological distress and lower life satisfaction and social well-being. Transgender women and men and nonbinary individuals report higher amounts of community connectedness than cisgender men and women. Higher community connectedness is associated with improved well-being and also buffers the influence of violence on well-being. That is, violence is associated with higher psychological distress, lower life satisfaction, and lower social well-being, but these associations are reduced or eliminated with higher community connectedness for all outcomes. Thus, this research highlights the importance of a feeling of belonging to a community for buffering the negative impacts of violence and discrimination among LGBT individuals and especially among transgender individuals.

Author

• Anastasia S. Vogt Yuan, Virginia Tech