Change in Finances, Peer Access, and Mental Health Among Trans and Non-binary People in Canada During COVID-19

  1. Monica A. Ghabrial
  2. Ayden I. Scheim
  3. Caiden Chih
  4. Heather Santos
  5. Noah James Adams
  6. Greta R. Bauer

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Abstract

Purpose

COVID-related stressors associated with loss of income and community are compounded with gender minority stress among trans and non-binary people (TNB) – which may result in mental health burden. The present study examined the effect of COVID-related change in finances and TNB gathering access on anxiety and depression among TNB people.

Methods

Participants were 18 years and older ( M age = 30) who completed both pre-pandemic baseline (Fall 2019) and pandemic follow-up (Fall 2020) surveys in the Trans PULSE Canada study. Multivariable regression analyses examined associations between change in (1) finances and (2) access to TNB peers and mental health during the pandemic.

Results

Of 780 participants, 50% reported that COVID had a negative effect on personal income and 58.3% reported loss in access to TNB peer or friend gatherings (in person or online). Depression and anxiety symptoms increased from pre-pandemic to follow-up, and most participants were above measurement cut-offs for clinical levels during the pandemic. Changes in finances and access to peer gatherings were associated with depression symptoms during the pandemic, but effects depended on level of pre-pandemic depression. For participants with high pre-pandemic depression, financial stability was not protective against increased depression at follow-up. Participants experiencing unprecedentedly high levels of depression during COVID may have pursued more TNB gatherings. Neither financial change nor access to TNB gatherings were associated with pandemic anxiety.

Conclusion

Findings suggest need for a multifaceted approach to mental health programmes and services to address structural barriers, including financial support and meaningful TNB community engagement.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.12.13.21267077: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Access to Trans and Non-binary Peer or Friend Gatherings: In the pandemic follow-up survey, we asked participants to rank how their access to TNB peer or friend gatherings (online or in person) had changed since March 2020.
    Friend
    suggested: None

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Although our study had many strengths, including a large and diverse national sample, as well as pre-pandemic assessments of mental health, there were limitations. Our measure of access to TNB peer or friend gatherings did not specify the nature of this access. Findings on the relationship between gathering access and mental health in the literature vary based on context. In some cases, among marginalized groups, high bonding with similar others is associated with worsened mental health, whereas connecting to individuals who are socio-demographically different is associated with less mental distress [38]. If the communities that participants were accessing are related to activism and civic engagement, there are mixed findings on the benefits of that type of engagement on mental health (e.g., [39]). Access to gatherings may also have been in the form of social media “lurking,” which may have a negative relationship with perceived social support and be related to worsened mental health [40]. This limits the interpretability of our findings. Qualitative investigation (e.g., [41]) may provide a deeper understanding of different dimensions of peer or friend gathering access and the impact on mental health. We additionally were unable to include participants who did not complete the COVID-19 follow-up survey and it is possible that their unavailability was related to distress or financial strain.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No funding statement was detected.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.12.13.21267077v1 on medRxiv