Why confronting positionality matters to advancing trans research and discourse
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Trans health has become a groundswell for discussing viewpoints and research methodologies among medical and public health communities in recent years-with some trans-led discussions that have been successful in advancing science and community strategies through constructive feedback, particularly on methodologies.1,2 However, some dialogues derail the objective that medical and public health professionals working in trans health seek to advance, and undermine efforts to advance equity, particularly in gender-affirming care.While it is important to invite interested medical and public health professionals into the field of trans health, it is vital for them to disclose their positionality and depth of expertise in relation to the body of scientific evidence in trans health to understand potential biases.3 For example, in the case of the correspondent, Armitage, when replying to Restar's 'Gender-affirming care is preventative care, 4 " displayed a valiant effort in identifying common methodological limitations, some of which are inherent to the study designs and are acknowledged within the original studies including those of cross-sectional designs (e.g., associations vs. causations), pre-post prospective cohort studies (e.g., comparison groups, period vs. lifetime measurements), and systematic reviews (e.g., risk of bias).While critiquing study designs was not the focus of Restar's article, Armitage took the opportunity to re-emphasize that evidence between gender-affirming care and mental health outcomes are indeed significant associations, just as Restar noted.Armitage also proposed the need for a "comparison group of individuals who had sought but did not yet receive GAC" however, this suggestion was already considered by the original authors as inappropriate due to their study data structure and research aims.5 The authors of the original study remain conclusive that their findings of "longitudinal association between gender-affirming surgery and reduced likelihood of mental health treatment lend support to the decision to provide gender-affirming surgeries to transgender individuals who seek them," and provide "support for policies that ensure coverage of gender-affirming care."Armitage also points out measurement tools vary between studies, which, as Restar also argues there is a
Author: Arjee Javellana Restar
Institutions: University of Washington, Yale University
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,000
OpenAlex ID: W4385554382