Cyberbullying Victimization Among Transgender and Gender-Questioning Early Adolescents

Objective: To determine the association between transgender or gender-questioning identity and cyberbullying victimization in a diverse national sample of early adolescents in the United States. Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (year 3, 2019–2021, 11–14 years old, 48.8% female, 47.6% racial and ethnic minority). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate the associations between transgender or gender-questioning identity and lifetime cyberbullying victimization, adjusting for sociodemographic confounders. Results: In a sample of 9989 adolescents (1.0% transgender, 1.1% gender-questioning), both transgender (odds ratio [OR] 2.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.22–4.10) and gender-questioning (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.05–3.47) adolescents had greater odds of cyberbullying victimization compared to their cisgender peers. There was no evidence of significant effect modification of the association between transgender identity and cyberbullying victimization by sex assigned at birth. Conclusions: Transgender and gender-questioning early adolescents experience higher rates of cyberbullying victimization than their cisgender peers. Future research could investigate the risk and protective factors for cyberbullying in gender minority adolescents.