The Critical Role of Coping Strategies in Moderating Loneliness and Quality of Life: Parallel and Unique Processes among Transgender and Heterosexual Cisgender People in Pakistan

Abstract

Groups marginalized and/or isolated by minority status—including transgender individuals—are at significant risk for loneliness and diminished quality of life (QoL), effects that can be mitigated to some extent by coping styles. In this study, we examined the relationships among coping styles, loneliness, and QoL outcomes in a marginalized but understudied gender minority group, namely, 200 transgender individuals living in communities in an emerging/developing non-Western geo-cultural region of South-Central Asia (Pakistan), comparing them against a reference group of 100 heterosexual cisgender individuals. Results indicated strong relationships among coping styles, loneliness, and QoL in both transgender and cisgender groups. Moderating variable analysis revealed that coping skills—whether adaptive or maladaptive—help explain differences in loneliness and QoL not only between trans- and cis-gender individuals, but also within just the transgender group. The implications of these findings for intervention strategies to improve QoL among transgender populations are discussed, with reference to both the specific context within Pakistan and the larger context of transgender marginalization within many developing/emerging countries.