Parents of transgender youth reported increased depression and anxiety and reduced positive affect in the weeks after the 2025 U.S. presidential inauguration, according to a study in Psychological Science. The findings were strongest among parents of transgender children, while parents of cisgender youth remained comparatively stable. Researchers said the pattern is consistent with an immediate potential cost of a political environment perceived as threatening transgender people and their families, although the small, short-term study cannot establish that the inauguration caused the changes.
The study used survey data collected from 73 transgender children and 87 cisgender children, along with their parents, between 2022 and 2024. Researchers then administered weekly surveys during the seven weeks following the 2025 inauguration. The questionnaires collected information about participants’ demographics, gender identity, mental health and well-being, including depression, anxiety and positive affect, a measure of feelings such as internal confidence and happiness. The pre-inauguration comparison data showed that parents of transgender and cisgender children had similar levels of depression and positive affect before the 2024 presidential election and the inauguration.
After the election, and especially after the inauguration, the analysis found a marked increase in depression and a decrease in positive affect among parents of transgender children. Their anxiety also worsened compared with levels before the inauguration. In contrast, parents of cisgender youth showed relatively stable mental-health measures during the same period, even though the groups generally had similar political outlooks toward the new administration. The researchers therefore observed a divergence in well-being rather than a general decline affecting all parents. In open survey responses, some parents attributed their distress to attacks on transgender support; one parent described the period as one of the worst weeks they could recall, and another referred to experiencing denial and grief.
Transgender youths’ own mental health changed less substantially over the course of the study, but they showed decreases in positive emotions during the weeks after the inauguration and had worse anxiety than cisgender youth afterward. The authors cautioned that the sample was small and that stronger conclusions require additional research. They also noted that transgender youths’ responses may have reflected the fact that executive orders had largely not yet been implemented during the study period, meaning later effects may not have been captured. The authors identified several questions for future work, including how parental distress and youth well-being interact, whether responses differ across political ideologies, and how results may vary among families with different socioeconomic backgrounds or racial and ethnic compositions. Overall, the study reports an association between the post-inauguration period and poorer mental health among parents of transgender youth; it does not provide evidence that the political actions directly caused the observed changes.
Subject of Research: Mental health among parents of transgender youth following the 2025 U.S. presidential inauguration
Article Title: Parents of transgender youth faced mental health declines after the 2025 US presidential inauguration
Article References: Parents of transgender youth faced mental health declines after the 2025 US presidential inauguration. Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: Not provided
Keywords: transgender youth, parental mental health, depression, anxiety, political stress, mental health disparities, United States politics, longitudinal survey, Psychological Science, Parents, transgender, youth
