Exploring the relationship between kindness and resilience among gender diverse versus cisgender youth: the BRAVE study

<b>Objective:</b> This study compared giving kindness, receiving kindness, self-kindness, and resilience between gender diverse (GD) and cisgender youth, and investigated the correlation between kindness (giving, receiving, self) and resilience among GD youth specifically. <b>Methods:</b> A total of 488 youth (93% college/university students; <i>n</i> = 69 GD; <i>n</i> = 419 cisgender) completed a survey that included demographics and scales to measure giving kindness, receiving kindness, self-kindness, and resilience. <b>Results:</b> Results from chi-square tests of independence indicated an association between gender and self-kindness, and gender and resilience. Results from Pearson's correlation showed a positive correlation between resilience and self-kindness in GD youth. <b>Conclusions:</b> Given that GD youth were more likely to have moderate levels of self-kindness and low levels of resilience compared to cisgender youth and that self-kindness and resilience were positively correlated, researchers may wish to focus on providing GD youth with self-kindness resources which could, in turn, lead to increases in resilience.