Experiences of Parental Violence Among Transgender and Gender-Diverse Adolescents

Abstract

Transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) adolescents face more violence than their cisgender peers, and violence perpetrated by close family members forms a significant part of these violent experiences. This study examines, whether gender modality is associated with experiences of parental psychological and physical violence and if the association changes when adjusting for factors associated with parental violence. We also examined which of the confounding factors seemed to mediate the association the most. This article consists of two studies, each of which utilizes self-reported data from nationally representative samples of Finnish adolescents. The results suggested that even though TGD adolescents experience both parental psychological and physical violence more often than their cisgender peers, their gender modality does not itself explain the higher risk. Instead, other risk factors related to parental violence seem to accumulate for TGD adolescents. According to the findings, the strongest mediators seemed to be sex assigned at birth, emotional and behavioral problems, neurodevelopmental problems, and not being able to discuss concerning matters with their parents. The results highlight that more attention should be paid to the well-being and health and social problems experienced by TGD adolescents.