Project Type(s):
Clinical Research

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) adolescents experience 4-18 times higher rates of anxiety, 4-23 times higher rates of depression, 11-54 times higher rates of suicidal ideation, and 2-5 times higher rates of suicide attempts compared to their cisgender peers. Importantly, parents/guardians (i.e., caregivers) can have a significant impact on TGD adolescent mental health, with recent research suggesting that caregiver support and acceptance are associated with a 30-40% reduction in these mental health concerns.

Community-based support groups are common practice with TGD adolescents and families. However, group intervention programs that work specifically with caregivers are rare, and existing programs have not been formally evaluated. Therefore, the goal of this project is to evaluate TRANSforming Families: Embracing Change with Teens, a virtual, multi-family program that was developed by mental health providers in the Seattle Children’s Gender Clinic (SCGC), to understand its impact on caregiver support and acceptance and adolescent mental health. This partnership between SCGC mental health providers and researchers will represent one of the first formal evaluations of a group intervention program for caregivers of TGD adolescents, the results of which can inform future implementation and evaluation of this program in pediatric gender clinics across the United States.

---