From Rejection by Others to Affirmation of Self: Understanding the Dynamics of Cissexism-Based Stress, Resilience Factors, and Suicidal Ideation Among Bi+ Transgender and Gender Diverse Adults

Bi+ and transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people experience high rates of suicidal ideation (SI), theorized to result from experiencing oppression-based stress. However, the role of resilience in moderating these effects remains largely unexplored, especially among bi+ TGD individuals. The current study aims to address these limitations by examining if resilience factors (i.e., support, self-affirmation) moderate the associations between cissexism-based stress (i.e., rejection, nonaffirmation, and internalized transphobia) and SI (i.e., frequency, severity). We used cross-sectional data from an online study of bi+ adults. The analytic sample consisted of 205 TGD individuals (M_age = 26.59, SD = 7.37, range = 18–49); 39.0% identified as white, 24.9% Latine, 8.8% Black, 20.0% multiracial, and 7.3% other racial identities. Cissexism-based stress (rejection, nonaffirmation, internalized transphobia), resilience factors (self-affirmation, support), and mental health (SI frequency, SI severity) were assessed. Self-affirmation moderated the association between rejection and SI. At mean and high levels, but not low levels of self-affirmation, rejection was significantly related to higher frequency and severity of SI. No other associations between cissexism-based stress and SI were moderated by resilience factors. Higher rates of nonaffirmation, internalized transphobia, and self-affirmation were associated with a higher frequency of SI. Although TGD identity-related support does not buffer the effects of cissexism-based stress, self-affirmation may be important to consider when addressing SI among bi+ TGD people. Findings suggest that self-affirmation may be associated with other factors that make TGD people more likely to encounter cissexism-based stressors, and thus more vulnerable to SI.