Self-harm and suicide among transgender people: an explorative study.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidality among transgender people: understanding correlates and help-seeking.
IRAS ID
263568
Contact name
Rory O'Connor
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 30 days
Research summary
Transgender people are at high risk of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide. Research has consistently shown that transgender people are substantially more likely to report suicidal ideation and behaviours than both cisgender people and other minority groups. Correlates of NSSI and suicidality within the trans-population are largely unknown due to limited high-quality research within this area. Furthermore, no research has explored trans-specific experiences of help-seeking for NSSI and suicidality to date. Help-seeking is an important factor in suicide prevention. The proposed study will seek to address this gap by using qualitative methods in order to generate rich and detailed, idiographic accounts of transgender individuals’ experiences of NSSI and suicidality, and how they make sense of these phenomena.
Participants will be recruited from a pool of individuals who have been referred to two Gender Identity Clinic's in Scotland; Sandyford Centre in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and Chalmers Centre in NHS Lothian. Participants will all take part in a one-off, semi-structured interview asking them about their experiences of NSSI and/or suicidality. The researcher will be guided by participants in terms of specific themes, inviting them to tell their story in their own words; however it is likely that the study will include exploration of various topics, including psychosocial factors which may increase or decrease the likelihood that NSSI and/or suicidality will occur and experiences of help-seeking in the context of experiencing NSSI and/or suicidality. The interview transcripts will be then be subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).
REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
19/WS/0169
Date of REC Opinion
2 Dec 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion