Supporting Transgender College Students: Implications for Clinical Intervention and Campus Prevention

• Published in: Journal of college student psychotherapy Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 155 - 176
• Main Authors: Swanbrow Becker, Martin A., Nemeth Roberts, Stacey F., Ritts, Sam M., Branagan, William Tyler, Warner, Alia R., Clark, Sheri L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Routledge 03-04-2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Anxiety; Cisgender; college student; College students; Comparative Analysis; Coping; Graduate Students; Group Counseling; Help Seeking; Individual Counseling; Intervention; Online Surveys; Peers; Prevention; Prevention programs; Racial Identification; Sexual Identity; Sexual Orientation; Statistical Analysis; Student Experience; Student Surveys; Suicide; Transgender persons; Trauma; Undergraduate Students
• ISSN: 8756-8225; 1540-4730
• DOI: 10.1080/87568225.2016.1253441

This study examines the experiences of transgender college students in coping with stress in comparison to their cisgender peers. Undergraduate and graduate students from 73 colleges, totaling 26,292 participants, of which 47 identified as transgender completed an online survey. Transgender students reported greater exposure to trauma and higher rates of suicidal experiences, as well as different precipitants to reported stressful periods and sources of support than their cisgender peers. Implications for individual and group counseling as well as outreach and prevention to better support transgender students are explored.