School of Public Health

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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.

Note: Prior to July 1, 2007, the School of Public Health was named the College of Health & Human Performance.

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    The emotional well-being of mothers of transgender and gender non-conforming children
    (2015) Allen, Samuel H.; Leslie, Leigh A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In recent years, mental health professionals have reported an upsurge in the number of referrals relating to transgender identities among children. While controversies exist among clinicians over treatment for these children, a growing number of practitioners are encouraging parents to accept their children's gender expressions. This practice, however, may be challenging for parents to embrace for a number of reasons, resulting in a vulnerable mental state. Using a combined theoretical framework of decentering heteronormativity within Meyer's minority stress theory (2003), the present study seeks to determine the association between various factors--gender non conformity, gender role beliefs, and child misbehavior--and the anxiety and depression in mothers of transgender and gender non-conforming children. Data were taken from Wave 1 of a longitudinal study of transgender and gender non-conforming children and their parents. Results indicated that only child misbehavior was significantly associated with maternal anxiety, and social support did not moderate this relationship. Complete findings and their implications are discussed, for both future research and further deconstruction of gender in the social sciences.
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    The Role of Self-Esteem in the Relationship Between Sexual Minority Status and Depressive Symptoms
    (2015) Ng, Diane; Lee, Sunmin; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Sexual minority (SM) youth have been found to experience higher rates of depression and depressive symptoms compared with heterosexual youth. It has been suggested that there are mediators in the pathway between stigma-related stress and psychopathology, such as self-esteem. This study was interested in investigating whether self-esteem is a mediator between SM status by romantic attraction and the outcome depressive symptoms during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, and whether sex moderated this mediation. Results showed that those who were both-sex attracted had significantly higher depressive symptoms than their opposite-sex attracted counterparts (β=0.04,p=0.049). Further, findings showed that self-esteem is a mediator in the pathway between both-sex attraction and depressive symptoms (p=0.007). Although females were found to have higher depressive symptoms than males, no significant interaction with sexual minority status was found. These results can have implications for possible interventions to reduce depressive symptomatology for sexual minority groups transitioning into adulthood.
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    Examining Parenting Perceptions Among Gay Adoptive Fathers: Do Experiences with Minority Stress Influence Parental Competency?
    (2013) Finkbeiner, Nicole; Anderson, Elaine A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to explore factors that may influence gay adoptive fathers' perceptions of their parental competency, or fathers' confidence in and satisfaction with their parenting role. Minority stress theory guided the conceptual model and research questions for the present study. It was hypothesized that minority stress would be negatively associated with perceived parental competency and that fathers' use of internal (cognitive) and external (behavioral) coping strategies would attenuate the impact of minority stress on perceptions of parental competency. The sample (n = 94) included adoptive gay fathers who were primarily white, highly educated, married/partnered, and from a middle- to upper-class socioeconomic background. A recruitment letter explaining the study with a link to an online survey was emailed to various organizations, including gay-affirming religious institutions, LGB parenting and advocacy organizations, adoption agencies, and LGBT college/university alumni groups. Completed surveys were compiled on a secure internet website. This study revealed that minority stress is significantly negatively associated with perceived parental competency. Although coping was not a significant moderating variable in the path between minority stress and perceptions of parental competency, internal coping strategies were significant positive predictors of perceived parental competency while external coping strategies were significant negative predictors of perceived parental competency. Implications for future research, clinical practice, and legal/policy endeavors are discussed.