Transgender teens and young adults are four times more likely to have a sleep disorder compared to cisgender youth. This is according to a Michigan Medicine-led study – “Gender identity and transition: relationships with sleep disorders in US youth” by Ronald Gavidia, Daniel G. Whitney, Shelley Hershner, Ellen M. Selkie, Riva Tauman, and Galit Levi Dunietz – that appeared in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
For this study, researchers analyzed claims data from more than 1.2 million young people aged 12 to 25, of which 2,603 identified as transgender or gender-nonconforming.
The results revealed:
- transgender youth are 5.4 times more likely to have insomnia
- transgender youth are three times more likely to have sleep apnea or other sleep disorders
According to first author Ronald Gavidia, M.D., M.S., sleep health has rarely been examined in transgender and gender-nonconforming youth, but these results show a concerning number of individuals with disorders that harm sleep quality. “Given this higher prevalence of sleep disorders in relation to cisgender youth, clinicians should consider screening and testing this population for such disorders.”
As it is, earlier studies already noted that transgender youth and adults have a high prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms, which affect sleep quality and health. Now the researchers of this study suspect suboptimal mental health may contribute to the association between transgender and gender-nonconforming identity and insomnia.
“Transgender and gender-nonconforming identity may precede mental health disorders and both influence insomnia diagnosis,” said senior author Galit Levi Dunietz, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Among the transgender youth in the study, more than half had pursued gender-affirming therapy. Interestingly, this group was found to be half as likely to have any sleep disorder than transgender individuals who did not pursue gender-affirming therapy. This means that gender-affirming therapy could be protective against worsening sleep health brought about by psychological stressors from prejudice and discrimination against the transgender community, stated the researchers.
“As mood disorders and insomnia have a bidirectional relationship, gender transition through affirming therapies could improve mental health, which, in turn, may decrease the proportion of insomnia by improving gender dysphoria, poor mood and minority stress,” Gavidia said.
Additional authors included Daniel G. Whitney, Ph.D., Shelley Hershner, M.D., Ellen M. Selkie, M.D., M.P.H., and Riva Tauman, M.D.
