The Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mental Health Issues among Transgender Individuals in Kenya

Psychosocial wellbeing is important for an individual to live a balanced and healthy life. Transgender people, due to their gender ma-conformity, face a myriad of challenges, including stigma, violence, discrimination, and trauma, which negatively affect their psychosocial wellbeing. In the recent years, transgender individuals have become more visible and have continuously brought to light the issues they face. This study sought to examine the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and mental health issues among transgender individuals in Kenya namely, psychological distress, suicidal ideation and perceived social support. The study utilized a descriptive and correlational design. The study had a sample size of 55 transgender people selected from Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu who were all above 18 years old. Self-report online questionnaire was used to collect data on adverse childhood experiences, the level of psychological distress, suicidal ideation and perceived social support. The data collected was analyzed mug Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The result indicated that transgender individuals in Rama have high expo-Are to ACEs, high levels of mythological distress, significant risk of suicide and moderate perceived social support. A significant strong positive relationship was found between ACE, and psychological distress and similarly between ACEs and suicidal ideation. A significant strong negative relationship was found between ACEs and perceived social support. The study concludes that adverse childhood experiences strongly influence mental health of transgender people in adulthood.