Date of Award

August 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling Psychology & Community Services

First Advisor

Rachel Navarro

Abstract

Transgender adults living in rural communities within the USA may be at an increased risk for suicidal ideation compared to their cisgender peers. Meyer’s Minority Stress Model postulates that this may be due to unique stressors that result from a minoritized identity that may lead to poor mental health outcomes, such as suicidal ideation; individual and community level protective factors may buffer or protect from poor health outcomes. The purpose of this study is to identify protective factors that may be unique to transgender adults experiencing suicidal ideation in rural communities. Utilizing a grounded theory approach, a homogenous group of transgender adults across the United States (N=10) were interviewed in semi-structured interviews to explore the unique stressors experienced and strengths exhibited by those experiencing suicidal ideation in rural communities. Five themes emerged from open, axial and comparative coding: Meteronormativity, Defying Expectations, Safety, Isolation, and Accessibility. Through continuous refinement informed by the gathered data, these themes were conceptualized through the framework of the Minority Stress Model to develop a theory of how the unique stressors of isolation, decreased accessibility, meteronormativity, and sense of safety can be influenced by individual and community levels supports such as challenging meternormativity, defying expectations, accessibility, and perceptions of safety. Further research is needed to test the theory and its relationship to existing theories of suicidality, intersectional identity, and differences in geographic rural cultures.

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