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Peer Responses to Trans Youth Tweeting About Self-Harm and Suicidality
Creative Nursing
|April 24, 2020
Summary
Transgender youth discussing mental health on social media primarily offer support and shared experiences, not encouragement of self-harm. This online peer support may be a protective factor for trans youth.
Area of Science:
- Social Sciences
- Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Transgender youth face higher risks of mental health issues compared to cisgender peers.
- Limited research exists on peer support mechanisms within this demographic.
- Online communication patterns among youth regarding self-harm and suicidality require further investigation, especially in minority groups.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nature of online peer support among transgender youth discussing mental health.
- To determine if transgender youth engage in encouraging self-injurious behavior online, contrasting with general youth trends.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of Twitter biographies to identify self-identifying transgender individuals aged 14-18.
- Keyword searches within identified accounts for mental health-related terms.
- Thematic coding of tweets and replies using inductive and deductive approaches, with quantitative analysis.
Main Results:
- 1,468 tweets from 235 accounts were analyzed.
- Most accounts received no or very few replies to mental health-related tweets.
- Replies predominantly consisted of support and shared experiences; advice was infrequent.
- No instances of replies encouraging or dismissing self-injurious behavior were observed.
Conclusions:
- Online interactions among transgender youth regarding mental health do not mirror general youth trends of encouraging risky behavior.
- Social media use may function as a protective factor for transgender youth's mental well-being.
- Findings suggest a re-evaluation of discouraging social media use in mental health care for transgender youth.
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