Assessing research activity is important for planning future research agendas and corresponding policies. The purpose of the current study was to analyze research publications on the mental health of transgender people.
Methods:
A bibliometric method using the SciVerse Scopus database was conducted. The study period was from 1992 to 2021. Keywords related to transgender and mental health were used to generate bibliometric data.
Results:
The search strategy found 1862 documents authored by 7820 researchers and disseminated through 641 journals. Research on the mental health of transgender people experienced a steep growth after 2013. Authors and institutions in the United States were the most active in the field. Except for research collaboration between the United States and Canada, no significant cross-country collaboration was noted in the field. The most active journal was the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health (n=54, 2.9%), followed by the LGBT Health journal (n=52, 2.8%). However, documents published in the American Journal of Public Health journal (n=147.9) received the highest number of citations per document. Articles on suicide, violence, mental stress, and stigma were the most impactful in terms of the number of citations. Major research themes in the field included substance/alcohol use, violence, and the prevalence of depression/anxiety/suicide among transgender youth.
Conclusions:
Research on the mental health of transgender people is on the rise. International research collaboration in the field is important to help researchers in low- and middle-income countries and increase the visibility of problems about transgender people in these countries.
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