Tag Archive for: transgender

Travis Campbell's research on family support for transgender youth

SOU economist’s research paper stresses importance of family support for trans youth

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(Ashland, Ore.) — SOU economist Travis Campbell is the lead author of a research paper that highlights the critical role of family support during the “identity development” of transgender youth. The study was published in this month’s issue of JAMA Pediatrics, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Medical Association.

The paper, “Mental Health of Transgender Youth Following Gender Identity Milestones by Level of Family Support,” concludes that transgender youth who live in unsupportive families are at significantly increased risk of suicide attempts and running away from home when they initiate any of four gender identity milestones: feeling that their gender is different, thinking of themselves as transgender, telling others that they are transgender and living full-time in their gender identity. By contrast, for those who live in supportive families, “there were no statistically significant associations between gender identity milestones and adverse mental health outcomes,” the research found.

In their study, Campbell and his co-authors – Yana Rodgers, a professor in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University; Samuel Mann an associate economist at RAND Corporation; and Nathaniel Tran, an incoming assistant professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois, Chicago – analyzed data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, the largest-ever assessment of transgender people with more than 27,700 respondents across the U.S. The collaborating authors analyzed the responses of 18,303 of those survey respondents, all of whom were transgender adults who had initiated at least one gender identity milestone between the ages of 4 and 18 years.

“These results demonstrate that without a supportive family environment, gender identity development increases the risk of transgender youth attempting suicide or running away from home,” the paper in this month’s JAMA Pediatrics said. “Social services and community resources to establish supportive relationships between transgender children and their parents are essential.”

Gender identity milestones are common and important steps in identity development for transgender youth, the paper said, and “may result in changes in internalized and externalized stress because of exclusion, rejection and violence,” which can contribute to “gender dysphoria” – a sense of distress for those who feel their assigned sex at birth does not match their gender identity. But the authors also said that achieving those milestones “is one way transgender people achieve self-actualization.”

The paper said the mental health of transgender people can improve with medical procedures that reduce gender dysphoria and interventions that lessen any gender-related stigma they may experience. On the other hand, limiting the options of transgender people can negatively affect them, the authors said.

“Antitransgender legislation is associated with worsening mental health outcomes among gender minority individuals, which is of particular note given the recent rise in antitransgender legislation, including bills that establish criminal charges for providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth,” the paper said, citing new laws in Oklahoma and Wyoming that ban gender-affirming care for minors.

Campbell joined the SOU Economics faculty as an assistant professor after earning his Ph.D. in economics in 2022 from the University of Massachusetts. His research applies microeconomics to social justice issues, including economic inequalities based on race, gender and sexuality. His classes at SOU include Micro and Macroeconomics, Quantitative Methods and Application, Healthcare Economics, Labor Economics and Gender Issues in Economics.

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Travis Campbell recognized by American Economics Association

SOU economist’s research recognized by American Economic Association

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(Ashland, Ore.) — SOU economist Travis Campbell and a co-author from Rutgers University have been recognized by the American Economic Association for writing the best research paper over the past year on LGBTQ+ economics.

The award for Campbell, an assistant professor of economics at SOU, and co-author Yana Rodgers of Rutgers was announced at the AEA’s annual meeting this month in San Antonio, Texas. Their paper, “Conversion therapy, suicidality and running away: An analysis of transgender youth in the U.S.” was nominated for the award from the AEA’s Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ Individuals in the Economics Profession.

The research paper by Campbell and Rodgers was published last year in the Journal of Health Economics. Their study is based on data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, and found that the controversial practice of “conversion therapy” increases the risk of suicide attempts among transgender youth by 55 percent, and increases the likelihood of running away from home by 128 percent. Conversion therapy is the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation – or gender identity or expression – to conform with heterosexual norms.

Campbell and Rodgers analyzed data from U.S. Transgender Survey, which is the largest-ever assessment of transgender people with more than 27,700 respondents across the U.S. participating.

Campbell has also authored an article for The Conversation website that summarizes the paper he co-authored with Rodgers, and a few related papers he has written.

Campbell joined the SOU Economics faculty after earning his Ph.D. in economics in 2022 from the University of Massachusetts. His research applies microeconomics to social justice issues, including economic inequalities based on race, gender and sexuality. His classes at SOU include Micro and Macroeconomics, Quantitative Methods and Application, Healthcare Economics, Labor Economics and Gender Issues in Economics.

The AEA’s Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ Individuals in the Economics Profession presents its award annually to the best paper, published in a peer-reviewed journal or academic press, on topics “especially relevant to or about LGBTQ+ populations.”

The AEA committee was created to help build an economics profession that is open to all, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, family status or disability. The committee is based on the belief that a diverse profession encourages the highest quality scholarship.

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SOU-Ashland-inclusion-pride parade

SOU president draws line on side of inclusion

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SOU President Linda Schott reassured the campus community today that the university will not waver in its commitment to inclusion, equal rights and opportunities for all, despite recent discussions at the federal level regarding the definition of gender.

“We will always welcome, value, support and protect all students and prospective students – regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, immigration status, nationality, religious affiliation or political persuasion,” the president said. “That includes all who identify as transgender or non-binary.”

Recent news reports indicate that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is leading an effort to establish a legal definition of gender under Title IX – the civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination at educational institutions receiving federal funding. The department is pushing for a gender definition based narrowly on biological traits, reversing protections established over the past several years by courts and administrative rule-making.

Separately, the Department of Justice argued in a brief submitted this week to the U.S. Supreme Court that civil rights laws banning sex discrimination in the workplace do not extend to transgender people – again, based on the definition of “sex.”

President Schott said in a message to campus on Friday that inclusion and diversity are vital elements of the SOU identity, and the current debates “will not change who we are or the values that define us.”

“Our university steadfastly supports the rights of each member of our campus community – and the estimated 1.4 million Americans who recognize themselves as a gender other than the one that their biology indicates – to be valued as individuals with their own particular characteristics,” Schott said.

The standards of equity, inclusion and diversity are mentioned prominently throughout SOU’s new Vision, Mission and Values. One of the seven strategic directions that were identified in the university’s recent strategic planning process outlines the goals of replacing systemic barriers with equitable processes, establishing pathways that support the success of those from underrepresented backgrounds and preparing all learners – regardless of background, identity and position – to thrive in a diverse world.

“Whatever the eventual outcome may be at the federal level, I assure you that equity and inclusion will remain unassailable principles at SOU,” the president said. “Under any definition of gender, equal protection and equal rights will always apply to every student, prospective student and employee at this university.”