Emotion Regulation in Transgender Individuals Study

What are we doing and why?

This study aims to better understand the lived experience of transgender individuals as they experience naturally occurring stressors and uplifting positive events in their lives and their responses to these events. The unique challenges faced by non-heteronormative individuals may make them particularly susceptible to experiencing stressful events as more stressful and uplifting events as less pleasant, as well as make these persons more likely to suppress their emotions and engage in such behaviors as alcohol and substance use to cope with strong emotional experiences by disengaging from them.

Few psychotherapies are tailored to assist non-heteronormative individuals with the unique challenges they experience. Those based on the heteronormative population often focus on facilitative coping strategies, learning new skills or changing behaviors, and seeking social support from the community, friends, and family that may not fully address the unique lived experiences of non-heteronormative individuals. While such approaches may be helpful, it also may be that transgender individuals would benefit from more tailored interventions.  

Learning about the lived experiences that transgender persons face is an essential step to providing informed care, reducing the stigma that surrounds them, and ensuring that this population is treated with the same respect that other people are afforded. Any research involving this marginalized community will help to promote understanding and compassion and reduce the levels of distress that this community faces.

Participating in this study involves completing an online questionnaire (about 45-60 minutes) and 2-3 minute surveys on your cell phone 5 times per day for 1 week. You will be compensated $45 for completing all parts of this study and have a chance to win an additional $100.

You are eligible to participate if you:

• identify as transgender.
• are 18 years of age or older.
• speak and understand English.
• have cell phone with text messaging and data plan.

Please contact our research team by phone (216-202-4496) or by email (merlab@csuohio.edu) for more information. 

Research Team

• Dr. Yaroslavsky - Principal Investigator - 216-687-9273 - i.yaroslavsky@csuohio.edu
• Kathy-Diane Reich - Study Coordinator - 216-202-4496- merlab@csuohio.edu
• Peter Hochman - Research Assistant - 216-202-4496- merlab@csuohio.edu
• Cheyene Horner - Co-Investigator - c.k.horner@csuohio.edu