Psychopathological symptom network structure in transgender and gender queer youth reporting parental psychological abuse: a network analysis

BACKGROUND: This is the first study to investigate the effect of parental psychological abuse on potential psychopathological symptoms in gender minority youth subgroups, including transgender women, transgender men, and gender queer individuals. METHODS: Data was analysed from the Chinese National Transgender Survey in 2017; the survey was distributed through community-based organizations to transgender adolescents and adults residing in China, with representation from all 32 provinces and autonomous regions. A total of 1293 youth that self-identified as transgender or gender queer completed the study. Measures covered psychopathological symptoms including depression, anxiety, risk of suicideand self-harm. Parental psychological abuse was assessed in terms of neglect and avoidance, force to change, and verbal insults. Both the edges and centralities were computed via network analysis, and the network properties were then compared among the three gender minority subgroups. In addition, linear regression was adopted to test the predictive ability of node centrality for low self-esteem. RESULTS: Descriptive analysis revealed that among the three subgroups, transgender women had more severe psychopathological symptoms and reported the most psychological abuse. Network analysis revealed that the risk of suicide and self-harm was directly connected with one type of parental psychological abuse (“neglect and avoidance”). Node centrality was significantly associated with the predicting value of the nodes on low self-esteem (r(2) = 0.25, 0.17, 0.31) among all three gender minority subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: The distinctive core psychopathological symptoms, within the networks of the gender minority subgroups, revealed specific symptoms across each group. The significant association between node centrality and low self-esteem indicated the extent of parental psychological abuse. Parental psychological abuse directed towards gender minority youth should be recognized as a form of family cold violence. It is recommended that schools and local communities should support early intervention to improve psychological well-being. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12916-021-02091-5.