Authentically expressing and navigating a transgender or gender nonconforming identity during adolescence can be a difficult and painful process. Using a transgender affirmative approach to clinical practice, psychologists and other mental health professionals can play a key role in supporting youth through this process. To date, there is a paucity of research exploring the impact of transgender affirmative interventions on well-being. The primary objective of this article is to present the results of a pilot study exploring the preliminary effectiveness and acceptability of AFFIRM, an affirmative cognitive–behavioral coping skills group intervention with transgender youth. This article will also describe transgender-specific considerations for delivering transgender affirmative interventions. The transgender subsample (N = 8) of participants in the study were between the ages of 16 and 18 and represented a diversity of intersecting racial/ethnic, sexual, and gender identities. Results indicate that AFFIRM was effective in significantly decreasing depression scores, and changes persisted through the 3-month follow-up. While changes in coping were not statistically significant, scores trended in a positive direction. Data indicate favorable responses to AFFIRM among transgender participants across a variety of dimensions of satisfaction. While findings are preliminary, they are promising, addressing a critical gap in intervention research aimed at decreasing depression and improving coping among transgender youth. Future controlled studies are needed to explore the efficacy of AFFIRM with larger samples of transgender youth.

中文翻译：

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跨性别青年的 AFFIRMative 认知行为干预：初步有效性。

在青春期真实地表达和驾驭跨性别或性别不一致的身份可能是一个艰难而痛苦的过程。在临床实践中使用跨性别肯定方法，心理学家和其他心理健康专业人员可以在支持青年通过这一过程中发挥关键作用。迄今为止，探索跨性别平权干预对幸福感的影响的研究很少。本文的主要目的是展示一项试点研究的结果，该研究探索了 AFFIRM 的初步有效性和可接受性，AFFIRM 是一项针对跨性别青年的积极认知行为应对技巧小组干预。本文还将描述提供跨性别积极干预的跨性别特定考虑因素。研究参与者的跨性别子样本 (N = 8) 年龄在 16 至 18 岁之间，代表了交叉种族/民族、性别和性别认同的多样性。结果表明，AFFIRM 在显着降低抑郁评分方面是有效的，并且在 3 个月的随访中变化持续存在。虽然应对的变化在统计上并不显着，但分数却朝着积极的方向发展。数据表明跨性别参与者在各种满意度方面对 AFFIRM 的反应良好。虽然研究结果是初步的，但它们很有希望，解决了旨在减少抑郁症和改善跨性别青年应对能力的干预研究中的一个关键差距。需要未来的对照研究来探索 AFFIRM 对更多跨性别青年样本的疗效。