Transgender Youth’s Psychological Wellbeing, Mental Toughness, and Fear of Negative Appearance Evaluation

This study investigates the relationship of variables that play a role in improving the wellbeing of transgender people. It examines the mediating effect of mental toughness on the relationship between fear of negative appearance evaluation and the psychological wellbeing of transgender youth. A total of 271 young transgender individuals aged 13-18 years old were recruited from Gujrat, Lahore and Rawalpindi districts in Pakistan using the snowball sampling technique. Data were collected through a quantitative cross-sectional survey research design after checking the internal consistency of the tools in a pilot study on 30 young transgender participants. The findings revealed mental toughness has a significant mediating role (P<.001) on the relationship between fear of negative appearance evaluation and psychological wellbeing among transgender people youth. Moreover, a significant direct negative effect of fear of negative appearance evaluation appeared on mental toughness and psychological wellbeing. On the other hand, mental toughness appeared to have a positive direct effect on the psychological wellbeing of the young transgender. Hence, the mental toughness of transgender people should be improved to enhance their psychological wellbeing.