Although gender-affirming care is highly individualized to the unique needs of each patient, most research has explored the impact of specific interventions on patient well-being. We aimed to better understand the nuanced experiences of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) adolescents and young adults seeking gender-affirming care by exploring the associations between individualized affirmation progress, perceived clinic support, and well-being in a clinical sample of TGD youth. A sample of 55 TGD youth (ages 14–21 years old) receiving care in a multidisciplinary gender health clinic completed online surveys in 2021. Participants reported on their affirmation goals, progress with these goals, and perceived clinical support. They also completed measures of psychological stress and life satisfaction and responded to items assessing perceptions of current mental health and changes in mental health since initiation of care. Affirmation progress and perceived clinic support were positively associated with changes in mental health since beginning care in the clinic. Perceived clinic support was also negatively associated with stress and positively associated with life satisfaction. Multidisciplinary gender health clinics can improve the well-being of TGD youth by holistically supporting TGD youth in their gender-affirmation progress through individualized treatment planning including goals for social, legal, and medical affirmation.
Dellucci et al. (Sat,) studied this question.