Localocentricity, mental health and medical poverty in communication about sex work, HIV and AIDS among trans women engaged in sex work

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Ambar Basu ◽  
Nivethitha Ketheeswaran ◽  
Brianna R. Cusanno
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arianne Reis ◽  
Sandro Sperandei ◽  
Paula Galdino Cardin de Carvalho ◽  
Thiago Félix Pinheiro ◽  
Ferdinando Diniz de Moura ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Trans women have been shown to experience disproportionately poor outcomes in physical and mental health. Although it is common to talk about the violence against trans people, little is still known about mental health outcomes and experiences of suicidality among trans women, particularly in developing countries. This study aims to investigate risk factors and associations with mental health, suicide ideation and suicide attempts among trans women in the largest metropolitan area in Brazil. Methods Trans women living in São Paulo were recruited between May 2017 and July 2019 using the long-chain peer referral method Respondent-Driven Sampling. Multivariate regression models were used to investigate the associations with K10 score classification (logistic) and suicidal ideation/suicide attempt (ordinal logistic). Results A total of 763 trans women were included in the study. Over one quarter (26.5%) of trans women had been diagnosed with anxiety in the past, and close to one in five (19.1%) trans women had received a diagnosis of depression. More than two in five (41.9%) trans women had moderate to severe psychological distress. More than half of all participating trans women reported having previously either experienced suicidal ideation or attempted to take their own lives (25.0 and 31.2% respectively). In multivariate regression, moderate to severe psychological distress was associated with homelessness, income, current sex work, use of stimulant drugs, history of physical abuse, depression diagnosis and access to mental health treatment. Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts were associated with race/skin color, living arrangements, marital status, current sex work, history of sexual violence, depression and PTSD diagnoses, access to mental health treatment and psychological distress. Conclusions This study showed that there is a significant association between mental health conditions, lack of treatment for these conditions and suicidality among trans gender women. Findings point to the need for a structural transformation in Brazil that enables a reduction in the social inequality and violence that impact the mental health of trans women. A number of recommendations to achieve this are provided.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arianne Reis ◽  
Sandro Sperandei ◽  
Paula Galdino Cardin de Carvalho ◽  
Thiago Félix Pinheiro ◽  
Ferdinando Diniz de Moura ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Trans women have also been shown to experience disproportionately poor outcomes in physical and mental health. Although it is common to talk about the violence against trans people, little is still known about mental health outcomes and experiences of suicidality among trans women, particularly in developing countries. This study aims to investigate risk factors and associations with mental health, suicide ideation and suicide attempts among trans women in the largest metropolitan area in Brazil. Methods We surveyed 763 adult trans women living in São Paulo between May 2017 and July 2019. Multivariate regression models were used to investigate the associations with K10 score classification (logistic) and suicidal ideation/suicide attempt (ordinal logistic). Results Over one quarter of trans women had been diagnosed with anxiety in the past, and close to one in five trans women had received a diagnosis of depression. More than two in five trans women had moderate to severe psychological distress. More than half of all participating trans women reported having previously either experienced suicidal ideation or attempted to take their own lives. In multivariate regression, moderate to severe psychological distress was correlated with homelessness, income, current sex work, use of stimulant drugs, history of physical abuse, depression diagnosis and access to mental health treatment. Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts were correlated with race, living arrangements, marital status, current sex work, history of sexual violence, depression and PTSD diagnoses, access to mental health treatment and psychological distress. Conclusions This study showed that there is a clear association between mental health conditions, lack of treatment for these conditions and suicidality among trans gender women. This is the largest published empirical study of trans women’s mental health outcomes and related socioeconomic risk factors in Brazil and, to our knowledge, one of the largest worldwide.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Kuo ◽  
Ashleigh LoVette ◽  
Dan J. Stein ◽  
Lucie D. Cluver ◽  
Larry K. Brown ◽  
...  

Depression contributes significantly to the global burden of disease in low- and middle-income countries. In South Africa, individuals may be at elevated risk for depression due to HIV and AIDS, violence, and poverty. For adolescents, resilience-focused prevention strategies have the potential to reduce onset of depression. Involving families in promoting adolescent mental health is developmentally appropriate, but few existing interventions take a family approach to prevention of adolescent depression. We conducted a qualitative investigation from 2013–2015 to inform the development of a family intervention to prevent adolescent depression in South Africa among families infected or at risk for HIV. Using focus groups with adolescents and parents (eight groups, n = 57), and interviews (n = 25) with clinicians, researchers, and others providing mental health and related services, we identified context-specific factors related to risk for family depression, and explored family interactions around mental health more broadly as well as depression specifically. Findings indicate that HIV and poverty are important risk factors for depression. Future interventions must address linguistic complexities in describing and discussing depression, and engage with the social interpretations and meanings placed upon depression in the South African context, including bewitchment and deviations from prescribed social roles. Participants identified family meetings as a context-appropriate prevention strategy. Family meetings offer opportunities to practice family problem solving, involve other family members in communal parenting during periods of parental depression, and serve as forums for building Xhosa-specific interpretations of resilience. This study will guide the development of Our Family Our Future, a resilience-focused family intervention to prevent adolescent depression (ClinicalTrials.gov #NCT02432352).


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-354
Author(s):  
Nadav Antebi-Gruszka ◽  
Daniel Spence ◽  
Stella Jendrzejewski

Author(s):  
Kyle K.H. Tan ◽  
Sonja J. Ellis ◽  
Johanna M. Schmidt ◽  
Jack L. Byrne ◽  
Jaimie F. Veale

There has been little international research looking at differences in mental health across different age groups. This study examines mental health inequities between transgender people and the Aotearoa/New Zealand general population from youth to older adulthood. The 2018 Counting Ourselves survey (N = 1178) assessed participants’ mental health using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and diagnoses of depression and anxiety disorders, questions that were the same as those used in the New Zealand Health Survey. Our results showed significant mean score differences for transgender people on K10, and these differences were almost two standard deviations higher than the general population (Cohen’s d = 1.87). The effect size differences, however, decreased from youth to older adults. Regression analyses indicated trans women were less likely to report psychological distress than trans men and non-binary participants. There was an interaction effect for age and gender, with lower psychological distress scores found for younger trans women but higher scores for older trans women. The stark mental health inequities faced by transgender people, especially youth, demonstrate an urgent need to improve the mental health and wellbeing of this population by implementing inclusive institutional practices to protect them from gender minority stress.


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