Momentary suicide risk processes in trans people

Transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse people (referred to below using the umbrella term of “trans”) have always existed. For as long as major population-level surveillance has existed, trans people have also always had disproportionately high rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. But trans people are severely under-represented in the suicide literature, meaning that we don’t understand nearly enough about the factors that contribute to trans people thinking about or attempting suicide.

Our lab believes that–especially in the current sociopolitical environment–more must be done to study and prevent suicide in trans people. This study is hoping to put a dent in that aim. We’re researching what processes contribute to trans people thinking about suicide at a momentary timescale. In other words, we’re not studying what things might increase suicide risk over months or years. We’re studying what things might increase suicide risk over moments or days.