The mental health age gradient by gender identity

Using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 2017-2022 we estimated adjusted and unadjusted differences in self-reported number of poor mental health days (past month) between gender minority (GM) and cisgender adults. We document that the disparity is largest among younger individuals. Among 18- to 23-year-olds, GM adults report on average 14.5 days of poor mental health, compared to 6.3 days for cisgender individuals, yielding an unadjusted disparity of 8.2 days [95% CI: 7.15, 9.24]. This disparity decreases with age - among people over the age of 73, the observed difference was 1.7 days [95% CI: 0.13, 3.27].