PROJECT LEADERS
Brian Thoma
Rachel Salk
Sophia Choukas-Bradley
The first Gender Minority Youth Study (GMY I) was a mixed-methods study focused on the mental health of transgender and other gender minority youth. We completed the qualitative phase of the study in the spring of 2018, involving in-depth interviews with GMY regarding the intersection of gender identity, body image, self-objectification, and disordered eating and weight-related behaviors. Next, in the fall of 2018, we collected quantitative data online from over 2,000 gender minority and cisgender adolescents, including assessments of a broad range of mental health symptoms, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, interpersonal experiences, and gender identity-related processes. Many of the cisgender youth in this study identified as sexual minority individuals. We have begun to publish papers from this dataset and other data analyses are currently underway.
Project TIDE is a qualitative interview study aimed at understanding the intersection of LGBTQ+ experiences and mood symptomatology among adolescents who are in treatment for bipolar disorder (PI of overarching treatment study: Dr. Tina Goldstein). Our primary aims are to understand the intersection of bipolar disorder and LGBTQ+ youth development in greater nuance and depth, as well as to understand connections between mood and patterns of sexual and romantic attraction.
In 2022-2023, Thoma and Choukas-Bradley completed a longitudinal version of the GMY Study (GMY II), funded in part by the Lesbian Health Fund (PI: Thoma). We have also applied for funding from NIH to continue this line of work.
Examples of GMY Study papers first-authored by members of the TAYA Lab include:
Romito et al. (2021), Body Image, "Exploring transgender adolescents’ body image concerns and disordered eating: Semi-structured interviews with nine gender minority youth"
Roberts et al. (2021), International Journal of Eating Disorders, "Disparities in disordered eating between gender minority and cisgender adolescents"
Maheux et al. (2021), The Journal of Sex Research, "Examining sexual behavior among U.S. transgender adolescents"
Other examples of GMY papers that Dr. Choukas-Bradley co-authored include:
Jardas et al. (2023), Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, "Testing the minority stress model across gender identity, race, and ethnicity among U.S. gender minority adolescents."
Fox et al. (2020), Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, "Mental health among sexual and gender minority adolescents: Examining interactions with race and ethnicity"
Thoma et al. (2019), Pediatrics, "Suicidality disparities between transgender and cisgender adolescents"