TY - JOUR
T1 - The contribution of school safety to weight-related health behaviors for transgender youth
AU - Pistella, Jessica
AU - Ioverno, Salvatore
AU - Rodgers, Melissa A.
AU - Russell, Stephen T.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by grant, P2CHD042849, Population Research Center, awarded to the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development . The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors acknowledge generous support from the Communities for Just Schools Fund, and support for Russell from the Priscilla Pond Flawn Endowment at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, the research reported in this publication was supported by Sapienza University of Rome (Mobility Projects Call for Research Doctorates) under award number 2682/2017 (0051266).
Funding Information:
This research was supported by grant, P2CHD042849, Population Research Center, awarded to the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors acknowledge generous support from the Communities for Just Schools Fund, and support for Russell from the Priscilla Pond Flawn Endowment at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, the research reported in this publication was supported by Sapienza University of Rome (Mobility Projects Call for Research Doctorates) under award number 2682/2017 (0051266). All authors who contributed significantly to the work have been identified.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents
PY - 2020/1
Y1 - 2020/1
N2 - Introduction: The aim of the present study is to examine gender identity disparities in different kinds of weight-related health behaviors, including physical activity, participation in physical education at school, and healthy and unhealthy eating habits, and to investigate the relationship between school safety and such behaviors in a sample of transgender and non-transgender students. Method: We analyzed a statewide sample of 31,609 students (Mage = 14.04, SD = 1.70; 1.1% transgender). We used multilevel regression models to examine the interactive effects of gender identity and perceptions of school safety on the 4 different outcome variables (physical activity, physical education, healthy and unhealthy eating habits). All models included student- and school-level characteristics as controls. Results: Findings indicated that transgender students, when compared to non-transgender students, reported (a) feeling less safe at school; (b) more physical activity, but less participation in physical education at school; and (c) both more healthy as well as unhealthy eating behaviors. Adjusted regression models showed a significant interaction between gender identity and perceived school safety on healthy eating behaviors; simple slopes indicated that transgender students have healthier eating behaviors when the school context is perceived as safe compared to those who perceived the school as less safe. Conclusions: School interventions are needed to improve school safety for transgender youth and to reduce gender identity-related disparities in healthy eating and physical activity. Research implications and limitations are discussed.
AB - Introduction: The aim of the present study is to examine gender identity disparities in different kinds of weight-related health behaviors, including physical activity, participation in physical education at school, and healthy and unhealthy eating habits, and to investigate the relationship between school safety and such behaviors in a sample of transgender and non-transgender students. Method: We analyzed a statewide sample of 31,609 students (Mage = 14.04, SD = 1.70; 1.1% transgender). We used multilevel regression models to examine the interactive effects of gender identity and perceptions of school safety on the 4 different outcome variables (physical activity, physical education, healthy and unhealthy eating habits). All models included student- and school-level characteristics as controls. Results: Findings indicated that transgender students, when compared to non-transgender students, reported (a) feeling less safe at school; (b) more physical activity, but less participation in physical education at school; and (c) both more healthy as well as unhealthy eating behaviors. Adjusted regression models showed a significant interaction between gender identity and perceived school safety on healthy eating behaviors; simple slopes indicated that transgender students have healthier eating behaviors when the school context is perceived as safe compared to those who perceived the school as less safe. Conclusions: School interventions are needed to improve school safety for transgender youth and to reduce gender identity-related disparities in healthy eating and physical activity. Research implications and limitations are discussed.
KW - Gender identity
KW - Healthy eating behaviors
KW - Physical activity
KW - School safety
KW - Transgender students
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U2 - 10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.12.001
DO - 10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.12.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 31812942
AN - SCOPUS:85075902079
SN - 0140-1971
VL - 78
SP - 33
EP - 42
JO - Journal of Adolescence
JF - Journal of Adolescence
ER -