Mental Distress and Use of Stimulants: Analysis of a Longitudinal Cohort of Transgender Women

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to examine the effects of mental distress (depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), incarceration, and hate crime on stimulant use (methamphetamine, crack, and cocaine) among transgender women.Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of longitudinal data collected from 2016 to 2018 with 429 transgender women in the San Francisco Bay Area. Generalized estimating equation log-binomial regressions were used to calculate relative risks of stimulant use associated with mental distress, incarceration, and hate crime.Results: At baseline, transgender women experienced transphobic hate crime (46.4%), incarceration (53.0%), mental distress (69.2%), and stimulant use (28.4%). Transgender women who used stimulants reported lower education (45.1%, chi(2) = 14.3, p = 0.001) and significantly more had been incarcerated (62.3%, chi(2) = 5.9, p = 0.015), and reported diagnoses of depression (67.8%, chi(2) = 6.1, p = 0.014), anxiety (62.8%, chi(2) = 4.3, p = 0.039), and PTSD (43.8%, chi(2) = 6.7, p = 0.010). Longitudinal multivariate analysis found that depression (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 1.46, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-1.95), anxiety (aRR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.05-1.93), and PTSD (aRR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.02-1.87) were associated with methamphetamine use but not with crack or cocaine use. Incarceration was associated with methamphetamine use and crack use, whereas experiencing hate crime was associated with crack use.Conclusions: Mental distress, incarceration, and hate crime were key exposures of stimulant use among transgender women. Intervention targets for reducing stimulant use should consider working upstream by addressing underlying stressors impacting mental health for transgender women, including laws to protect transgender women from hate crime and to reduce their disproportionate representation in the criminal justice system.