Given prison environments force TGD individuals into a difficult trade-off between visibility and concealment, it is important to further explore our findings of both lower lifetime mental health burden (some of which may be pre-incarceration) and lower levels of psychological distress experienced while incarcerated among TGD individuals who do not identify as TGD

to expand on previous research exploring the disproportionate mental health burden experienced by transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals who are incarcerated relative to cisgender men and women who are incarcerated. We disaggregate the TGD group to examine the different mental health burdens of TGD individuals and how the methodological task of categorizing gender identities can affect our understanding of mental health in prison. Results highlight the theoretical importance of acknowledging the stressful carceral environment and its impacts on psychological well-being and the methodological importance of understanding how decisions around the categorization of gender identity can differently impact our understanding of diverse individuals within the already-marginalized TGD population in prisons.