Gender-affirming hormone therapy boosts mental health in transgender, nonbinary youth

In youth who identify as transgender or nonbinary, receiving or having access to gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) may yield mental health benefits, leading to lower rates of depression and suicidality, a recent study has found.

Drawing from a 2020 survey, the researchers enrolled 11,914 youth (aged 13–24 years) identifying as transgender or nonbinary. Information regarding the use of and access to GAHT and suicidal thoughts and behaviours were determined through the survey. The Patient Health Questionnaire-2 was used to measure depression.

Half of the respondents said that they were not using GAHT but would otherwise like to, while 36 percent noted that they weren’t interested. Only 14 percent of respondents said that they were receiving GAHT.

Bivariate analyses found that recent depression was less common in youth who were receiving GAHT vs those who were not but wanted to (61 percent vs 75 percent). The same was true for seriously considering (44 percent vs 57 percent) and attempting (15 percent vs 23 percent) suicide in the past year.

Adjusted logistic regression analysis confirmed these findings. In particular, receiving GAHT reduced the odds of recent depression by more than 15 percent (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.73; p<0.001) and suppressed the likelihood of seriously considering suicide in the past year to a similar degree (aOR, 0.74; p<0.001).

“Given the well-documented risks of negative mental health and suicide among transgender and nonbinary youth, it is necessary that those serving these youth provide care that is patient-centred, affirming, and evidence-based,” the researchers said.