Comparisons of anxiety, depression, and general health and well-being in a gender diverse sample of LGBTQ+ adults.

Authors

Ethan Moitra, Nicole A Gonzalez, Zachary J Kunicki, Natalie Fenn, Mary Kathryn Cancilliere, Trisha Arnold

Published in

Journal of mood and anxiety disorders. Volume 15. Pages 100187. Epub Jun 16, 2026.

Abstract

People who identify as LGBTQ+ report significantly higher rates of mental illness compared to cisgender, heterosexual populations. Transgender and non-binary (TNB) individuals show substantial mental health challenges when compared to non-LGBTQ+ people. However, few studies have explored TNB mental health compared to cisgender sexual minority individuals within a clinical LGBTQ+ sample.
This observational study examined differences in anxiety, depression, general health and well-being, and psychiatric diagnoses in a sample of adults who identified as LGBTQ+ according to their self-reported gender identity (TNB vs. cisgender). The sample consisted of 100 TNB and 139 cisgender sexual minority adults (n = 239 total). Participants were in their early to mid-30s, mostly identified as non-Hispanic/Latino White, and were employed. Self-report measures of anxiety, depression, general health/well-being, and interviewer-administered measures of anxiety, depression, and psychiatric diagnoses were used.
After adjusting for age, ethnicity, and race in an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) model, compared to cisgender sexual minority individuals, participants who identified as TNB demonstrated significantly worse anxiety (self-report: d=0.33; interview: d=0.56), depression (self-report: d=0.27; interview: d=0.25), and general health/well-being (d=-0.34). TNB individuals were also significantly more likely to meet criteria for depressive or anxiety disorders (OR=2.19, 95%CI: 1.17, 4.08, p = .014).
This is among the first studies to compare mental health and well-being within a LGBTQ+ adult sample according to individuals' gender identity. Results indicate that people who identify as TNB have a particularly high mental health burden, underscoring the importance of careful screening and tailored interventions for this subgroup.

PMID:
42437133
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 12 Jul 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.