Depression, Self-Esteem, and Resilience and its Relationship with Psychological Features of Sexuality among Transgender Men and Women from Brazil.

ABSTRACT

This cross-sectional study investigated whether depression, self-esteem, and resilience (mental health indicators) are associated with some psychological features of sexuality (sexual fear, sexual anxiety, sexual dissatisfaction, and sexual body image worries) in a sample of 462 transgender men and women from Brazil. Pearson's correlations were performed between all continuous variables in the study. Those that were significantly associated with the psychological features of sexuality in previous analyses were tested as independent variables in multiple linear regression models. Sexual fear, sexual anxiety, sexual dissatisfaction, and sexual body image worries were negatively related to self-esteem and resilience, while positively related to depression. Higher levels of depression were associated with sexual fear, while higher levels of depression and lower self-esteem were associated with sexual anxiety. In addition, higher levels of depression and lower levels of resilience were associated with sexual dissatisfaction. Depression and resilience were associated with the composite score of sexual dissatisfaction and sexual anxiety. Our results suggest that negative mental health indicators may impair the sexual life of transgender individuals. Clinical interventions should be developed and tested to address the psychological features of sexuality.