Parents of transgender youth faced mental health declines after the 2025 US presidential inauguration

In 2025, research published in Psychological Science found that the inauguration of the US president caused parents of transgender youth to experience significant mental health declines. Prior to the inauguration and even presidential election, parents of both transgender and cisgender children had comparable levels of depression and positive affect.

However, following the inauguration, parents with transgender children experienced a marked increase in depression and a significant drop in positive affect, with anxiety worsening compared to pre-inauguration levels. Notably, parents' anxiety was particularly heightened after the inauguration, with some reporting feeling overwhelmed by denial and grief.

In contrast, the mental health of parents of cisgender youth remained largely stable, despite having similar political ideologies and outlooks on the new administration. The study's authors suggest that the parents were anticipating the consequences of executive orders targeting transgender individuals, such as restrictions on gender-affirming care, school policies, and gender-specific participation in activities.

While transgender youth's mental health did not change drastically over the study period, they did experience decreases in positive emotions and increased anxiety in the weeks following the inauguration, compared to cisgender youth. The authors stress the need for further research with larger samples to draw stronger conclusions, noting that delayed effects of executive orders and the interplay between parents' and youth's declining well-being warrant further investigation.