A community-based study of transgender and nonbinary youths’ coping with gender-related stress

Transgender and nonbinary (TNB+) youth face unique challenges, placing them at elevated risk for adverse mental health outcomes. However, existing research on TNB+ youth is largely deficit-focused and often overlooks their strengths and agency. Using a community-based approach, this study examined coping strategies used by TNB+ adolescents and young adults and evaluated whether general and population-specific strategies were associated with higher levels of resilience. An independent community advisory board of five TNB+ young adults evaluated the standardized measures, and their perspectives were incorporated into the quantitative analyses. Participants’ lived experiences related to additional coping strategies were captured through open-text responses. N = 164 TNB+ adolescents and young adults (ages 16–27) completed measures of TNB+-specific coping, general coping, distal and proximal gender-related minority stress, and individual resilience. Qualitative data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis, and quantitative analyses included bivariate associations and latent regression models. Several community-based coping strategies emerged that enhance the scope of existing standardized instruments. Behavioral avoidance was the most frequently used TNB+-specific coping strategy. Contrary to our assumption, general coping strategies, but not TNB+-specific coping, were significantly associated with resilience. The findings imply that strengthening coping capacities may enhance resilience among TNB+ youth independently of minority stress levels, highlighting the importance of interventions that build general coping resources alongside efforts to address structural stressors. Results further underscore the importance of community-based assessment of coping, highlighting how coping strategies identified outside standardized instruments can inform counseling practices with TNB+ youth.