Family-Based Interventions with Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth: Systematic Review and Best Practice...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Family Therapy
• Gender Studies

Background:

• Transgender and gender expansive (TGE) youth face significant mental health and developmental challenges.
• Family acceptance is a critical factor in mitigating poor psychosocial outcomes for TGE youth.
• Family-based treatment is increasingly common for TGE youth, but empirical outcome data is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review existing literature for outcome data on family-based interventions with TGE youth.
• To identify clinical recommendations for family interventions supporting TGE youth and their families.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature review was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
• Searched for articles providing quantitative outcome data or clinical recommendations for family-based interventions with TGE youth.

Main Results:

• No quantitative outcome data were found for family therapy specifically with TGE youth.
• Thirty-two articles provided clinical practice recommendations for family-based interventions with TGE youth over several decades.
• Only two articles offered outcome data for family therapy with sexual minority youth.

Conclusions:

• Clinical approaches have evolved from pathologizing to affirming TGE youth's gender identity.
• Key affirming strategies include psychoeducation, validating family reactions, emphasizing acceptance, and utilizing support modalities.
• Future research should focus on intervention efficacy, incorporating affirming strategies and collecting quantitative outcome data.