The effectiveness of community connectedness and identity pride as protective factors in the Gender Minority Stress Model
Abstract
The year 2025 represented one decade since the publication of Testa and colleagues’ (2015) Gender Minority Stress Model (GMSM), developed to better encapsulate the unique experiences of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals. This model introduced two protective factors, community connectedness and identity pride, that would mitigate the negative effects of minority stress. Addressing the effectiveness of these protective factors is vital, as TGD individuals experience disproportionate negative mental and physical health outcomes compared to both their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts and cisgender, LGBQ+ counterparts. Therefore, the current study involved a systematic review, conducted according to PRISMA guidelines, to examine whether the protective factors community connectedness and identity pride actually mitigate minority stress’ impact on TGD health. Based on structured searches conducted on PsycInfo, PsycArticles, and PubMed, 1136 articles were identified regarding community connectedness as a protective factor and 99 articles were identified regarding identity pride as a protective factor. Removal of duplicates and screening of records resulted in a total of 10 articles for community connectedness and nine articles for identity pride that met predetermined inclusion criteria. Results depicted limited evidence for community connectedness as a protective factor and mixed findings regarding identity pride as a protective factor. There are several gaps identified in the current literature, with a majority of articles being cross-sectional and based in the United States, and limited research conducted with two proximal stressors (negative expectations and concealment) as predictors and physical health outcomes. Future directions will be proposed, including expansion of the GMSM beyond a deficit focus present thus far in TGD research.
Start Time
15-4-2026 1:30 PM
End Time
15-4-2026 2:30 PM
Room Number
303
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Presentation Subtype
Grad/Comp Orals
Presentation Category
Social Sciences
Student Type
Graduate
Faculty Mentor
Stacey Williams
The effectiveness of community connectedness and identity pride as protective factors in the Gender Minority Stress Model
303
The year 2025 represented one decade since the publication of Testa and colleagues’ (2015) Gender Minority Stress Model (GMSM), developed to better encapsulate the unique experiences of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals. This model introduced two protective factors, community connectedness and identity pride, that would mitigate the negative effects of minority stress. Addressing the effectiveness of these protective factors is vital, as TGD individuals experience disproportionate negative mental and physical health outcomes compared to both their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts and cisgender, LGBQ+ counterparts. Therefore, the current study involved a systematic review, conducted according to PRISMA guidelines, to examine whether the protective factors community connectedness and identity pride actually mitigate minority stress’ impact on TGD health. Based on structured searches conducted on PsycInfo, PsycArticles, and PubMed, 1136 articles were identified regarding community connectedness as a protective factor and 99 articles were identified regarding identity pride as a protective factor. Removal of duplicates and screening of records resulted in a total of 10 articles for community connectedness and nine articles for identity pride that met predetermined inclusion criteria. Results depicted limited evidence for community connectedness as a protective factor and mixed findings regarding identity pride as a protective factor. There are several gaps identified in the current literature, with a majority of articles being cross-sectional and based in the United States, and limited research conducted with two proximal stressors (negative expectations and concealment) as predictors and physical health outcomes. Future directions will be proposed, including expansion of the GMSM beyond a deficit focus present thus far in TGD research.
