The Mental Health of Transgender Young People in Secondary Schools: A Scoping Review

Mackie, Grace; Lambert, Karen; Patlamazoglou, Lefteris

doi:10.1007/s12310-020-09403-9

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Published: 02 January 2021

The Mental Health of Transgender Young People in Secondary Schools: A Scoping Review

School Mental Health volume 13, pages 13–27 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

This paper aims to summarise peer-reviewed literature into the mental health of transgender young people within a secondary schooling environment. A scoping review was conducted using literature across four databases. The search was limited to English language peer-reviewed articles that reported upon the association between school factors and the mental health outcomes of transgender young people in secondary schools. The review resulted in seven relevant studies, which reported numerous school factors related to mental health outcomes for transgender young people. The factors that related to mental health of transgender young people in schools include peer victimisation and bullying, perceived safety and a sense of school belonging or connectedness. Clinical and practical implications are provided for policy makers, educational institutions and school mental healthcare professionals. It is recommended that future research is needed to investigate the mental health services provided within the schooling environment.

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Notes

Scare quotations are used here as the term transgender is a contested term that can mean different things to different people. It is an identity category that is not necessarily fixed or stable; thus, the meaning behind this term can be fluid or malleable for different people and communities.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Sylvia Pilz for her guidance and knowledge throughout the methodology of this scoping review.

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Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
Grace Mackie, Karen Lambert & Lefteris Patlamazoglou

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Grace Mackie
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Karen Lambert
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Lefteris Patlamazoglou
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All authors contributed to the final draft of the manuscript. The conception of the review, material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by GM. KL also contributed to the later stages of the data collection. The first draft of the manuscript was written by GM, and all authors contributed feedback and comments on all versions. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Appendix

The final terms used for the search were [transgender OR transgender youth OR transgender adolescent* OR transgender teen* OR transgender young people OR transgender young person* OR LGBT* youth OR LGBT* adolescent* OR LGBT* young people OR LGBT* young person* OR trans* youth OR trans* adolescent* OR trans* teen* OR trans* young people OR trans* young person* OR gender diverse youth OR gender diverse adolescent* OR gender diverse teen* OR gender diverse young people OR gender diverse young person* OR non-binary youth OR non-binary adolescent* OR non-binary teen* OR non-binary young people OR non-binary young person*] AND [school* or schools] AND [mental health].

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Mackie, G., Lambert, K. & Patlamazoglou, L. The Mental Health of Transgender Young People in Secondary Schools: A Scoping Review. School Mental Health 13, 13–27 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-020-09403-9

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Accepted: 12 December 2020
Published: 02 January 2021
Issue Date: March 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-020-09403-9

Keywords

Transgender
Youth mental health
Secondary schooling
Young people
Scoping review

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References

*Article included in the current scoping review

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Conflict of interest

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Appendix

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