Mirella J. Flores

A Content Analysis of Literature on Trans People and Issues: 2002–2012

This study provides a content analysis of more than a decade (2002–2012) of academic scholarship about trans people and issues. A total of 960 trans-focused publications were coded; there was a close balance of nonempirical (54%) and empirical (46%) publications. The analyses revealed that the literature on trans people and issues is growing, although many publications include trans people and issues nominally without substantive attention. The analyses also pointed to underutilized research designs and methodologies, the need for more clear assessment and more consistent reporting of demographic characteristics, and topics that warrant further attention. Specifically, literature on trans people and issues continues to be needed on the topics of focus thus far, such as psychological and identity-related distress. Scholarship is also needed to address important topics that have been understudied, including self-harm and suicide, positive functioning and mental health promoting factors, developmental issues across the life span, school and workplace experiences, and the training and competencies of health care providers to ensure affirmative and effective services for trans people.

Minority Stress and Bisexual Women’s Disordered Eating: The Role of Maladaptive Coping

The purpose of this study was to explore the link between bisexual women’s experiences of anti-bisexual discrimination and disordered eating, while examining potential mediating variables underlying this link: outness/identity concealment and maladaptive coping (i.e., coping via internalization, detachment, and drug and alcohol use). A total of 353 bisexual women participated in this study. The relationship between outness and disordered eating was not significant. Higher levels of anti-bisexual discrimination were related to more disordered eating behaviors, and this relationship was mediated by coping via internalization. However, anti-bisexual discrimination was directly related to more coping via detachment and drug and alcohol use. Findings from the study suggest that attending to bisexual women’s experiences of discrimination in counseling is particularly important. Moreover, assisting bisexual women in resisting internalization of discriminatory experiences may be a potential point of intervention for mental health professionals working with bisexual women experiencing disordered eating.

Minority stress and racial or ethnic minority status: A test of the greater risk perspective.

Latent variable structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test expectations of stigma, internalized heterosexism, and identity disclosure as mediators of the associations of heterosexist discrimination with psychological distress and well-being. Multigroup invariance testing was used to evaluate the predictions of the greater risk perspective, which contends that racial or ethnic minority (REM) sexual minorities (a) experience higher levels of minority stressors relative to their White peers and (b) that the associations among these stressors and between the stressors and mental health outcomes are stronger for REM sexual minority people than for White sexual minority people. Participants were 813 sexual minority adults (n = 318 REM; n = 495 White) who completed an online survey. Results of the SEM indicated that heterosexist discrimination, expectations of stigma, and low disclosure were each uniquely related to poorer mental health (i.e., higher distress, lower well-being); internalized heterosexism’s unique associations with both mental health outcomes were nonsignificant. Expectations of stigma and disclosure (but not internalized heterosexism) mediated the relations of heterosexist discrimination with psychological distress and well-being. The invariance tests did not support the predictions of the greater risk perspective. Implications of these findings for clinical work and research with racially and ethnically diverse sexual minority people are discussed.

Bisexual women’s discriminatory experiences and psychological distress: Exploring the roles of coping and LGBTQ community connectedness.

The present study examined the relations among antibisexual discrimination, coping mechanisms, psychological distress, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community connectedness among bisexual women. It was hypothesized that both adaptive (i.e., resistance, education/advocacy) and maladaptive (i.e., internalization, drug and alcohol use, detachment) coping mechanisms would significantly mediate the positive link between antibisexual discrimination and psychological distress. More specifically, we expected that antibisexual discrimination would predict more adaptive and maladaptive coping mechanisms, although adaptive coping would relate to less distress and maladaptive coping would relate to more distress. In addition, LGBTQ community connectedness was explored as a moderating variable in each of these links (i.e., moderated mediation). Antibisexual discrimination was significantly positively correlated with all coping mechanisms. Moreover, antibisexual discrimination, education/advocacy, internalization, resistance, and detachment significantly positively predicted psychological distress. In addition, education/advocacy, internalization, resistance, and detachment partially mediated the positive relation between antibisexual discrimination and psychological distress, whereas alcohol and drug use did not. LGBTQ community connectedness moderated the link between antibisexual discrimination and psychological distress, such that the relation was nonsignificant among higher levels of community connectedness. Practice implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

How Do Feminist-Identified Women Cope With Discrimination? A Feminist Standpoint and Grounded Theory Study

Women experience a higher incidence of mental health concerns compared to men, and scholars have located these challenges within a discriminatory sociocultural context. Although scholars have suggested that feminist attitudes may shield women from discrimination, research on the protective role of feminist attitudes is discrepant and suggests that there are distinct differences between those who do and do not self-identify as feminist; namely, self-identifiers may be more protected in the face of discrimination. Utilizing grounded theory and intersectional feminist standpoint methodologies, in this study we sought to understand the ways that self-identified womanist and feminist women cope with discrimination. We found that women’s feminist and cultural identities intersected, each informing the other and influencing coping mechanisms and well-being. Moreover, results demonstrated that feminist women call upon a variety of different coping mechanisms in response to discrimination, including advocacy, social support, self-care, cognitive processes, disengagement, connecting to one’s femininity, and religion and spirituality. Although possessing a feminist and/or womanist identity appeared to be protective in some cases, at other times it did not. Some participants expressed feeling marginalized from the feminist community and felt that their greater awareness of oppression was an additional source of distress. Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for mental health clinicians and research scholars.

The development and psychometric evaluation of the Trans Discrimination Scale: TDS-21.

To date, researchers assessing the role of discrimination in trans peoples’ lives have relied upon measures that were developed and normed on LGB populations, culled specific items from large-scale survey data, or used more generalized measures of discrimination that do not specifically assess the unique forms of discrimination that trans people may encounter. Thus, the purpose of this three-part study was to develop and provide psychometric support for a measure of trans peoples’ discrimination. In Study 1, a five-factor model emerged, which included: Microaggressions and Harassment, Restricted Career and Work Opportunities, Maltreatment in Health Care Settings, Harassment by Law Enforcement, and Bullying and Harassment in Educational Settings. Internal consistency estimates for subscale and total scale scores ranged from acceptable to excellent. Results from Study 2 revealed that a bifactor model provided the best fit to the data, revealing that the scale is essentially unidimensional. In addition, convergent and concurrent validity was supported, demonstrating significant positive correlations with another measure of trans discrimination, internalized transphobia, nondisclosure, negative expectations for the future, psychological distress, and perceived stress. In Study 3, results revealed excellent test–retest reliability up to a three-week period. Collectively, results suggested that the Transgender Discrimination Scale-21 (TDS-21) is a psychometrically sound measure that may be used to advance research on the role of discrimination in trans peoples’ lives.

Transgender people of color’s experiences of sexual objectification: Locating sexual objectification within a matrix of domination.

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to investigate transgender people of color’s (TPOC’s) sexual objectification experiences (SOEs). Fifteen TPOC were interviewed about their experiences with sexual objectification. Using intersectionality and objectification theories as our research paradigms, results suggested that participants’ SOEs were shaped by the intersections of cissexism, sexism, and racism, and that participants experienced various levels of privilege and oppression based on their specific identities. Results revealed similarities with previous sexual objectification research as well as unique sexual objectification experiences for TPOC, including racialized sexual objectification, fetishization, genital- and gender transition-based comments, and body policing. Results also suggested that self-objectification may manifest as a desire to affirm one’s gender identity and result in physical safety anxiety. TPOC may engage in body surveillance to achieve transgender congruence and reduce potential victimization experiences. Mental health practitioners are encouraged to attend to how intersections of cissexism, sexism, and racism may encourage SOEs, and the ways in which such experiences may impact TPOC.

Development and Psychometric Properties of the Evasive Attitudes of Sexual Orientation Scale (EASOS).

The purpose of this article was to develop and evaluate evidence for reliability and validity of a multifactor measure of evasive attitudes of sexual orientation across two studies. The Evasive Attitudes of Sexual Orientation Scale (EASOS) was inspired by Neville, Lilly, Duran, Lee, and Browne’s (2000) Colorblind Racial Attitudes Scale and existing literature on contemporary homonegativism. In Study 1, data from 221 heterosexual participants were included in an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and resulted in a 3-factor solution: Institutional Heterosexism, Aversive Heterosexism, and Heterosexual Privilege, with 1 global factor of Evasive Attitudes of Sexual Orientation. Correlational analyses with the present sample revealed evidence of convergent validity and a lack of response bias. The sample for Study 2 included 270 heterosexual participants. EFA results from Study 2 confirmed the factor structure found in Study 1. Hierarchical regression was used to assess incremental validity of scores in the newly developed measure. Results indicated that the EASOS explained participants’ degree of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender persons (LGBT) allyship better than measures of homonegativity and modern heterosexism could alone. The present findings offer initial evidence for the use of the EASOS and may be valuable for future research on contemporary homonegativism.