2026 Theses Doctoral

Norm Transgressions, Doing Gender, and Mental Health: Exploring the Dynamics of Mental Health and Gender Performance, Normative Perceptions, and Social Recognition Among Nonbinary and Binary Transgender Individuals

Menard, Leesh

Transgender people experience pronounced mental health disparities, yet research has often treated the population as a single category, building its theories and measures around a binary default and obscuring the experiences of nonbinary people, who constitute more than a third of the transgender population.

Using the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey, this dissertation examines how binary and nonbinary transgender individuals differ in mental health and in the performance and social recognition of gender. The study drew on four theoretical frameworks: doing gender, norm-centered stigma, minority stress, and invisibility theory.

It applied sequential linear regression across three papers: Paper 1 compared depression (PHQ-2) and psychological distress (K6); Paper 2 examined identity concealment, cis-normative blending, and perceptual congruence; and Paper 3 tested whether these gendered experiences moderated the relationship between identity and mental health. Nonbinary respondents reported higher depression and distress, and these differences persisted after adjustment. Recognition and congruence, though associated with better mental health among binary respondents, showed little association among nonbinary respondents under standard measurement, though an expanded measure suggested recognition may still matter.

These findings suggest binary and nonbinary individuals may occupy distinct positions within systems of gender recognition, underscoring the value of disaggregated analysis and inclusive measurement.