Transgender Therapeutic Support Groups

NCT ID: NCT04217707

Last Updated: 2022-07-05

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

WITHDRAWN

Clinical Phase

NA

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-01-31

Study Completion Date

2023-12-31

Brief Summary

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This study seeks to explore the effects for transgender people undergoing surgical interventions of participating in pre/post-surgical therapeutic support groups in order to assess the value of adding these programs to hospital systems that are offering gender-affirming surgeries. Participation in either therapeutic support group is expected to increase subjective well-being, increase perceived social support, and decrease clinically significant mental health symptoms compared to participants' baseline scores. It is expected that perceived social support will mediate the relation between group participation and improved subject well-being and mental health scores. In addition, participation in the post-surgical therapeutic support group is expected to reduce the average number of emergency department visits for participants in the group compared with transgender patients, post-gender-affirming surgery, in the hospital as a whole.

Detailed Description

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At present, in the scientific literature, there are no known studies of the effectiveness of therapeutic support groups for supporting mental and physical health in transgender or gender nonconforming (TGNC)-identified individuals who are undergoing gender-affirming surgical interventions. Gender affirmation surgeries have been shown to decrease anxiety and depression, and increase well-being for TGNC individuals compared to the well-being of TGNC individuals who do not access surgery. In spite of this, surgery is inherently stressful for people undergoing it, and there are a plethora of medical and psychological complications that may be faced by people undergoing these surgeries.

Denver Health has greatly expanded gender-affirming interventions in the past three years due to the creation of the Center of Excellence; however, mental health services are still catching up. While support from other TGNC individuals has proven to be effective in general for reducing anxiety and depression, and community support groups have begun to be offered more regularly to support TGNC individuals, surgical support groups appear to largely not be offered. However, a high proportion of TGNC individuals express a desire for post-surgical support around surgery results (84.6% in a sample of 415 people), and over 90% of people are in favor of peer support around medical interventions more broadly. In other areas, specifically bariatric surgery, peer therapeutic support groups have been found to help with continued post-operative weight loss and mental health, likely due to the additional opportunities for support and connection with others undergoing similar things, group provision of ideas, and additional therapeutic support. While individual therapy is, and should continue to be, offered for this population, the addition of a group attended by individuals going through similar situations is likely to be helpful above and beyond individual therapy due to the provision of peer support, as well as the opportunity for participants to offer support to their peers. Seeing oneself as a help provider, rather than simply a help recipient (helper-therapy principle) has been demonstrated to have a powerful impact on the helper's own well-being across a host of medical and psychological situations.

Currently, therapeutic support groups are being developed to be offered to TGNC patients at Denver Health who are undergoing gender-affirming surgeries. Investigators will systematically collect data on well-being and mental health, as well as the mediating effect of feelings of cohesion on well-being, as well as the number of emergency department visits for participants in the groups as compared to the average number of emergency department visits across all TGNC patients in the Denver Health system for patients involved in these groups. Given the deficit of groups of this nature, as well as information on the helpfulness of therapeutic support groups for people undergoing gender-affirming surgeries, the investigators expect that this may be the first study on this topic. The study hypothesis is that participants in pre- and post-surgical support groups will experience increased well-being and mental health over a six month period, and that these increases will be mediated by group cohesion. Investigators also expect that attendance at these groups will lead to lower utilization of emergency services due to decreased anxiety and distress.

Conditions

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Gender Dysphoria in Adolescents and Adults

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Participants will be patients drawn from already-existing therapeutic support groups for transgender patients who are hoping to undergo or have undergone gender-affirming surgeries. Research participants will participate in the groups as usual, and after each of their first eight attended sessions, will be asked to fill out outcomes of interest again. Due to the possibility that participants may not attend eight group sessions, length of time for them to attend eight sessions will be capped at 6 months, and participants will be asked to fill out measures again at six months following their enrollment
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Pre- and Post-Surgical Transgender Therapeutic Support Groups

Group Type OTHER

Pre- and Post-Surgical Transgender Therapeutic Support Group

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be patients drawn from already-existing therapeutic support groups for transgender patients who are hoping to undergo or have undergone gender-affirming surgeries. Participants will be assured that there will be no changes to their care or decisions about their surgeries if they elect not to participate in the research portion of the groups, but would still like to attend groups as a non-research participant. Prior to their first group session, participants will be arrive early to go over consent again and allow participants to sign the consent form and fill out baseline measures of the outcomes of interest. Following this, research participants will participate in the groups as usual, and after each of their first 8 attended sessions, will be asked to fill out outcomes of interest again. Length of time for them to attend 8 sessions will be capped at 6 months, and participants will be asked to fill out measures again at six months following their enrollment.

Interventions

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Pre- and Post-Surgical Transgender Therapeutic Support Group

Participants will be patients drawn from already-existing therapeutic support groups for transgender patients who are hoping to undergo or have undergone gender-affirming surgeries. Participants will be assured that there will be no changes to their care or decisions about their surgeries if they elect not to participate in the research portion of the groups, but would still like to attend groups as a non-research participant. Prior to their first group session, participants will be arrive early to go over consent again and allow participants to sign the consent form and fill out baseline measures of the outcomes of interest. Following this, research participants will participate in the groups as usual, and after each of their first 8 attended sessions, will be asked to fill out outcomes of interest again. Length of time for them to attend 8 sessions will be capped at 6 months, and participants will be asked to fill out measures again at six months following their enrollment.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Transgender and gender non-conforming adults who take part in therapeutic support groups aimed at patients prior to and after gender-affirming surgical interventions.

Exclusion Criteria

* Age \< 18
* Substance abuse as primary presenting problem and unable to maintain sobriety for group
* Severe mental illness with acute psychosis or paranoia
* Patients with a very high need for crisis management
* Patients with diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder
* Patients with severe cognitive impairments.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Denver Health and Hospital Authority

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Rachel Narr

Postdoctoral Fellow

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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Denver Health and Hospital Authority

Denver, Colorado, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Branstrom R, Pachankis JE. Reduction in Mental Health Treatment Utilization Among Transgender Individuals After Gender-Affirming Surgeries: A Total Population Study. Am J Psychiatry. 2020 Aug 1;177(8):727-734. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.19010080. Epub 2019 Oct 4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31581798 (View on PubMed)

Pflum, S.R., Testa, R.J., Balsam, K.F., Goldblum, P.B., & Bongar, B. (2015). Social support, trans community connectedness, and mental health symptoms among transgender and gender nonconforming adults. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, 2(3), 281-286.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Eyssel J, Koehler A, Dekker A, Sehner S, Nieder TO. Needs and concerns of transgender individuals regarding interdisciplinary transgender healthcare: A non-clinical online survey. PLoS One. 2017 Aug 28;12(8):e0183014. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183014. eCollection 2017.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28846715 (View on PubMed)

Huberman, W.L. (2008). One psychologist's 7-year experience in working with surgical weight loss: The role of the mental health professional. Primary Psychiatry, 15(8), 42-47.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Livhits M, Mercado C, Yermilov I, Parikh JA, Dutson E, Mehran A, Ko CY, Shekelle PG, Gibbons MM. Is social support associated with greater weight loss after bariatric surgery?: a systematic review. Obes Rev. 2011 Feb;12(2):142-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2010.00720.x.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20158617 (View on PubMed)

Riessman, F. (1965). The "helper" therapy principle. Social Work, 10(2), 27-32.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Weinstein N, Ryan RM. When helping helps: autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2010 Feb;98(2):222-44. doi: 10.1037/a0016984.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20085397 (View on PubMed)

Hutchinson DS, Anthony WA, Ashcraft L, Johnson E, Dunn EC, Lyass A, Rogers ES. The personal and vocational impact of training and employing people with psychiatric disabilities as providers. Psychiatr Rehabil J. 2006 Winter;29(3):205-13. doi: 10.2975/29.2006.205.213.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16450932 (View on PubMed)

Pagano ME, Post SG, Johnson SM. Alcoholics Anonymous-Related Helping and the Helper Therapy Principle. Alcohol Treat Q. 2010 Jan 1;29(1):23-34. doi: 10.1080/07347324.2011.538320. Epub 2011 Jan 19.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 23525280 (View on PubMed)

Stewart-Brown S, Tennant A, Tennant R, Platt S, Parkinson J, Weich S. Internal construct validity of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): a Rasch analysis using data from the Scottish Health Education Population Survey. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2009 Feb 19;7:15. doi: 10.1186/1477-7525-7-15.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19228398 (View on PubMed)

Ng Fat L, Scholes S, Boniface S, Mindell J, Stewart-Brown S. Evaluating and establishing national norms for mental wellbeing using the short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS): findings from the Health Survey for England. Qual Life Res. 2017 May;26(5):1129-1144. doi: 10.1007/s11136-016-1454-8. Epub 2016 Nov 16.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27853963 (View on PubMed)

Shah N, Cader M, Andrews WP, Wijesekera D, Stewart-Brown SL. Responsiveness of the Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS): evaluation a clinical sample. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2018 Dec 22;16(1):239. doi: 10.1186/s12955-018-1060-2.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 30577856 (View on PubMed)

Vaingankar JA, Abdin E, Chong SA, Sambasivam R, Seow E, Jeyagurunathan A, Picco L, Stewart-Brown S, Subramaniam M. Psychometric properties of the short Warwick Edinburgh mental well-being scale (SWEMWBS) in service users with schizophrenia, depression and anxiety spectrum disorders. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2017 Aug 1;15(1):153. doi: 10.1186/s12955-017-0728-3.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28764770 (View on PubMed)

Schwarzer, R. & Schulz, U. (2013). Berlin Social Support Scales (BSSS). Measurement Instrument Database for the Social Science. Retrieved from www.midss.ie

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Norris FH, Kaniasty K. Received and perceived social support in times of stress: a test of the social support deterioration deterrence model. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1996 Sep;71(3):498-511. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.71.3.498.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 8831159 (View on PubMed)

Wethington E, Kessler RC. Perceived support, received support, and adjustment to stressful life events. J Health Soc Behav. 1986 Mar;27(1):78-89. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 3711634 (View on PubMed)

McCabe CJ, Thomas KJ, Brazier JE, Coleman P. Measuring the mental health status of a population: a comparison of the GHQ-12 and the SF-36 (MHI-5). Br J Psychiatry. 1996 Oct;169(4):516-21. doi: 10.1192/bjp.169.4.516.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 8894205 (View on PubMed)

Ware, J., Kosinki, M., & Gandek, B. (2000). SF-36 health survey: Manual & Interpretation Guide. Lincoln: Quality Metric Incorporated.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Other Identifiers

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20-0001

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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