Traumatic exposure in a cross-sectional, national sample of transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive (TNGE) Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC)

Objective: High levels of traumatic exposure are well-documented in past research within transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive (TNGE) groups; however, less is known about the levels of traumatic exposure among TNGE Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) communities. Method: This exploratory study aimed to examine the prevalence of traumatic exposure in a community sample of 110 TNGE BIPOC who endorsed past-year suicidal ideation. The Life Events Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (LEC-5) was utilized to measure traumatic exposure that was personally experienced firsthand and that of general traumatic exposure (i.e., experienced firsthand or vicariously). Descriptive statistics are reported detailing the prevalence of both forms of traumatic exposure. Results: Findings indicate that the average firsthand traumatic exposure and general traumatic exposure scores for the general sample were on average 4.89 and 10.85 types of events, respectively. The most common types of firsthand traumatic exposure were unwanted sexual experience (69%), other stressful experience (61%), physical assault (55%), sexual assault (45%), and transportation accident (45%). The most common types of general traumatic exposure were unwanted sexual experience (86%), physical assault (85%), transportation accident (81%), sexual assault (77%), and natural disaster (74%). Conclusion: Findings suggest that the prevalence and nature of traumatic exposure experienced by TNGE BIPOC may be substantially distinct from that of the general population. Replication of this study with a representative sample is warranted to further assess the prevalence of firsthand and vicarious traumatic exposure.