An Overview of Depression among Transgender Women

Table 1

Factors predicting depression-related variables (by theory).

Authors,; year of publication	Study location	Study population	Study method	Predicted variable	Correlates tested	Control variables	Outcomes
Minority stress model
Bazargan and Galvan (2012) [5]	Los Angeles	220 MTF low-income Latina women	(i) Interview; (ii) Cross sectional	Depression	(i) Verbal violence; (ii) Sexual partner violence; (iii) History of sex work	(i) Education; (ii) Living   arrangement; (iii) Income; (iv) Immigration   status; (v) Years in US	Verbal violence, sex partner violence, and ed. of ≤11th gr.→depression.
Bockting et al., (2013) [2]	United States	629 MTF, 464 FTM, recruited online	(i) Online survey; (ii) Cross sectional	Mental health (anxiety and depression)	(i) Verbal violence; (ii) Perceived stigma; (iii) Gender dysphoria; (iv) Investment in     passing; (v) Outness; (vi) Family support; (vii) Peer support	(i) Age; (ii) Education; (iii) Income; (iv) Marital   status; (v) Urban versus rural	Verbal violence, perceived stigma, family support, outness, younger age, and less education→worse mental health.
Clements-Nolle et al., (2006) [6]	San Francisco	392 MTF, 123 FTM, respondent-driven sampling	(i) Interview; (ii) Cross sectional	Att. suicide	(i) Depression; (ii) Self-esteem; (iii) Substance use; (iv) Discrimination; (v) Verbal violence; (vi) Physical   violence; (vii) Sexual violence	(i) Race/ethnicity; (ii) Age; (iii) Sexual     orientation; (iv) Education; (v) Recent   employment; (vi) Incarceration; (vii) Know HIV status	Younger age, depression, alcohol and drug treatment, rape, and phys. gender discrimination→suicide attempt.
Nuttbrock et al., (2013) [7]	New York City	230 MTF HIV negative at baseline, recruited throughout community	(i) Interview; (ii) 3-year prospective	Depr. symptoms	(i) Physical violence; (ii) Verbal violence	Age	Violence→depr. symptoms.
Nuttbrock et al., (2010) [8]	New York City	571 MTF, recruited throughout community	(i) Interview; (ii) Retrospective longitudinal	Major depr., suicidality	(i) Verbal violence; (ii) Physical violence; (iii) Use of hormones; (iv) “Coming out” to friends/family	(i) Episodic or   persistence of   violence; (ii) Life stage; (iii) Age; (iv) Ethnicity	(i) Victims of violence 2x as likely depr., suicidal; (ii) Persist. psych. abuse→depr., suicidality in adol.; (iii) Period. and persist. phys. abuse→depr. and suicidality; (iv) Blacks ↓rates of depression
Sánchez and Vilain (2009) [9]	Arizona and California	53 MTF, recruited at conferences	Paper survey	Psychological distress (somatization, depression, anxiety)	Collective self-esteem		Fear about identity→greater psyc. distress
Testa et al., (2012) [10]	Virginia	350 adult students (179 MTF, 92 FTM), recruited via service providers, support groups, and peer networks	Survey: Paper (English and Spanish), Internet (English); Cross sectional	(i) Suicidal   ideation,   attempts; (ii) Substance   abuse	(i) Physical violence; (ii) Sexual violence		(i) Phys. violence→↑suicidal ideation attempts; (ii) Sex   violence ↑substance   abuse
Coping
Budge et al., (2013) [11]	United States	226 MTF, 125 FTM, recruited online	(i) Online survey; (ii) Cross sectional	Depression Anxiety	(i) Social support; (ii) Facilitative coping; (iii) Avoidant coping; (iv) Transspecific loss	(i) Transition status; (ii) Family history; (iii) Age Income	Family history and SS→depression.; Transition status neg.→av. coping, av. coping mediates SS and depression.
Nemoto et al., (2011) [12]	San Francisco and Oakland	573 MTF w/sex work history	Interview Cross sectional	Depression	(i) Physical violence; (ii) Verbal violence; (iii) Social support; (iv) Suicidal ideation	(i) Ethnicity; (ii) Age; (iii) Immigration; (iv) Education; (v) Income; (vi) Sex work; (vii) Housing status; (viii) Sexual       orientation; (ix) SRS	Depression→higher need for, less reception of, and dissatisfaction with social support, transphobia, suicidal ideation, lower income and education.
Rotondi et al., (2011) [13]	Ontario	186 MTF, respondent-driven sampling	Online and paper survey	Depression		(i) Age; (ii) Relationship   status; (iii) Rural versus   urban; (iv) Income; (v) Employment; (vi) Education; (vii) Housing; (viii) Childhood     abuse; (ix) Transphobia; (x) Racism; (xi) Health probs.; (xii) Social support; (xiii) Transition; (xiv) Passing; (xv) Living as gender	(i) Unemployment,   childhood abuse, living in rural Ontario→↑risk of depression.; (ii) Support, passing rarely or often (not always) and little community org. involvement→↓risk of depression
Identity control theory
Nuttbrock et al., (2011) [14]	New York City	571 MTF, recruited throughout community	(i) Interview; (ii) Retrospective   longitudinal	Major depr.	Gender identity conflict/affirmation	(i) Relationship type; (ii) Life stage	Parents, siblings, fellow students c/a→depression until middle age, sex partner c/a→from young adulthood on.
Nuttbrock et al., (2002) [15]	New York City	43 MTF sex workers	(i) Not specified; (ii) Cross sectional	Depr. symp.	(i) Family support; (ii) Friend support		Neg.→between depr. symptoms and family/friend support for trans. identity