Association between social support and depression, suicidal ideation among transgender women in Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

Depression and suicidal ideation are becoming a major mental health problem globally. Thailand is known as the accepting society for transgender but the available study on transgender women dealing with depression is scarce. This study aims to describe the rate of depression and suicidal ideation among transgender women in Bangkok and to explore the associated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 280 transgender women in Bangkok, Thailand on May 2019. Data were collected through self-administered. The measurement tools including socio demographic characteristics, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) and The Columbia–Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to explore the associated factors of depression and suicidal ideation. The rate of depression and suicidal ideation among transgender women in this study was 58.2% and 55.0% respectively. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, depression was significantly associated with insufficient income, drinking alcohol 1-3 time/month in the past 12months (p-value <0.05). Low perceived social support and moderate perceived social support showed strongly statistically significant associations (p-value <0.01). For suicidal ideation, cabaret actress showed statistically significant association (p-value< 0.05). Ex-smoker, low perceived social support and moderate perceived social support showed strongly statistically significant associations (p-value <0.01). Transgender tend to experience higher rates of mental health problems than the general population. This study suggested that social support was significantly associated with depression and suicidal ideation in transgender women. Supporting the mental health of transgender people should be seen as a strategic investment which creates many long-term benefits for individuals, societies and health system. Moreover, depression and suicidal ideation rate was high therefore, further studies should focus on intervention study to reduce depression and suicidal ideation.