Resilience among transgender persons: Indian perspective

Abstract

Introduction: Transgender persons are rejected from their families and communities; they are exploited, ridiculed, and discriminated at every aspect of the societal life due to their gender variant behavior and roles. They are at high risk for mental health problems and psychological distress. Materials and Methods: Sixty transgender persons recruited for the study through consecutive sampling method. Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale was administered. Results: Respondents have scored low (59.30 ± 15.02912) in the resilience scale, and this score is lower than any other population scored on this scale across the world. This suggests poor resilience status of the respondents. Residing at family of origin or in mainstream, having higher education status and being employed, are the factors associated with better resilience among transgender persons. Conclusion: The resilience among transgender persons need to be researched and explored further and need to be strengthened by identifying and enhancing the factors associated with better resilience level. Further, family acceptance, societal acceptance, mainstreaming to the education and employment sectors, and provision of health care and social services would bring changes in their lives.

Keywords

• Mental health problems
• psychological distress
• resilience
• transgender persons