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Gender-Diverse Youth (GDY) are known to have elevated levels of psychosocial concerns, with their social environments having a major influence. Previous research has identified COVID-19’s negative impacts on mental health, but little research has explored how some GDY may have benefited from the social changes. This study sought to fill that gap through interviews with GDY about their experiences while quarantining.
Methods:
This study’s 33 participants (Mean age: 15; SD: 1.77; range 12-18) came from a larger study evaluating the impact of receiving gender-affirming care (GAC) on GDYs’ overall well-being. The youth participated in semi-structured interviews that included three questions specific to COVID-19: What impact did COVID-19 have on your gender identity/well-being? What impact did COVID-19 have on your social supports? How did COVID-19 affect your receipt of GAC? Each interview was de-identified, transcribed, and coded. After individually coding each interview, the research team met, discussed, and agreed on the study’s prominent themes. The team then returned to the data to further evaluate and confirm the themes. After confirmation, exemplary quotes were chosen to illustrate each theme.
Results:
Three themes emerged from the data: (1) COVID-19 precipitated self-exploration, (2) COVID-19 created safe spaces, and (3) COVID-19 allowed for separation from negative environments. In the first theme, a participant explained, “It helped me have a lot of time to think, and just really come to realize who I found myself to be... the extreme break and quarantine helped me really just like find, at least close to the right [words] to apply to myself.” Participants noted that COVID-19 quarantining gave them the time and resources needed to delve deeper into the depths of their gender identities and expressions to prompt their self-acceptance. In the second theme, a participant said, “It [COVID] helped me transition and not tell caregivers for three years.” Participants discussed how social distancing enabled them to exercise more autonomy over when and how they would reveal their gender identities and expressions to others in their lives. In the third theme, a participant shared, “I did not have to worry about continuing this image for school since I did not go to school the first semester.” Participants were not subjected to people or places that could place their psychosocial health in jeopardy.
Conclusion and Implications:
These GDYs’ experiences offer a narratorial reversal from what has been presented in previous research. While COVID-19 had many problematic impacts on youths’ socialization, GDYs’ experiences during COVID-19 were not monolithically negative. For some GDY, the forced separation from problematic environments was a welcome change that allowed them a reprieve from social harassment. Additionally, the environmental changes provided space for further exploration and reflection upon their identities outside of the limitations of their typical social milieu, including opportunities to better align their gender presentation with their sense of self with less concern about social critique during the process. Practitioners should help GDY and their families identify and/or construct environments where youth can explore their identities continuously, safely, and free from judgment.