Australian study links frequent anti-trans stigma exposure to higher anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts

An Australian study has linked more frequent exposure to anti-trans stigma with statistically higher rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm thoughts and suicidal thoughts.

In Australia, trans and gender-diverse people experience poor mental health outcomes than the general population, and this gap has widened over the past 22 years.

As social media has continued to integrate itself into modern life, the study's lead author River Zwickl said they wanted to understand more about the impact anti-trans content had on a person's mental health.

For the study, published in Frontiers of Public Health, the team surveyed 807 trans and gender-diverse people aged 16 and over, some of whom described the stigma they encountered online or in traditional media as "relentless", "omnipresent" and "inescapable".

"We found that anti-trans content in the news and social media is close to unavoidable," said Dr Zwickl, a University of Melbourne researcher.

"Over 70 per cent of people we surveyed had seen or heard anti-trans remarks online multiple times weekly in the previous month."

Dr Zwickl said, as someone who was trans, the results were not surprising.

Three in four trans participants had cut back on news media to avoid harmful content.

This, Dr Zwickl said, meant they also missed out on valuable online connections and keeping informed.

Negative exposure and mental health

Researchers asked participants about whether they saw any anti-trans remarks online or in the news media, and if so, how often.

They then compared the mental health outcomes for people who were exposed to anti-trans stigma multiple times a week and people exposed less frequently.

People who had seen or heard about anti-trans remarks in the news media, multiple times weekly, compared to those who had experienced this less often, were:

37 per cent more likely to report anxiety

25 per cent more likely to report depression

23 per cent more likely to report self-harm ideation

38 per cent more likely to report self-harm behaviour

33 per cent more likely to report suicidal Ideation

43 per cent more likely to report suicide planning.

Dr Zwickl said the correlation was "extraordinary".

"It's certainly one of the highest, most clear findings in that respect between looking at an exposure [to anti-trans context] and [mental health] outcomes," they said.

Estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggest nearly 1 per cent of Australians, about 178,900 Australians, are trans and gender-diverse.

Dr Zwickl said given the relatively small percentage of trans and gender-diverse people living in Australia, their cohort of 807 was a representative sample and they would expect similar results in a larger cohort.

Damien Riggs, professor in social work at Flinders University, who did not contribute to the study, agreed.

Although the research did not prove causation, Professor Riggs said the strong association supported clinical observations.

"What it does is name something we already knew clinically, we already knew in the community," he said.

Study points to potential solutions

Avery (not their real name) was one of the 807 people who took part in the study.

He said while there had "always" been a lot of anti-trans content online, the amount of negative content on social media appeared to have either increased or become more prominent in the past 12 months.

"It's deeply unpleasant and often quite upsetting," he said.

Avery said he was concerned about the impact this content had on others, especially young trans and gender-diverse people and their families.

Dr Zwickl said there were a few things on a policy level that could improve outcomes for trans and gender-diverse people.

Specifically, they wanted media outlets to be held accountable for publishing anti-trans information and for social media platforms to introduce greater protections for minority groups.

Australia's broadcast radio industry codes, which have recently been updated, state material cannot incite hatred, serious contempt or sever ridicule towards a person or group because of attributes including transgender status.

But Dr Zwickl wants the codes strengthened, with serious penalties for non-compliance.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts said the government was strengthening its cyberbullying and cyber-abuse schemes.

Part of this, they said, would give the eSafety commissioner power to respond more quickly to such content.

They also said Australia's proposed digital duty of care laws would force online service providers to be "proactive" in preventing harm rather than putting the onus on users to report harm after it had occurred.