Psychosocial influences on pain in transgender individuals

Pain is an unpleasant and unavoidable part of the human experience, but the prevalence and impact of pain disproportionately impacts marginalized groups, including transgender and gender-diverse people. While there are many bases of pain, psychosocial variables, including cognitions (e.g., outcome a...

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Main Authors: Kelly S. Clemens, John Matkovic, Abby Odelson, Audrey Strain, Eric D. Wesselmann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Pain Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2025.1546526/full
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author Kelly S. Clemens
John Matkovic
Abby Odelson
Audrey Strain
Eric D. Wesselmann
author_facet Kelly S. Clemens
John Matkovic
Abby Odelson
Audrey Strain
Eric D. Wesselmann
author_sort Kelly S. Clemens
collection DOAJ
description Pain is an unpleasant and unavoidable part of the human experience, but the prevalence and impact of pain disproportionately impacts marginalized groups, including transgender and gender-diverse people. While there are many bases of pain, psychosocial variables, including cognitions (e.g., outcome and interpersonal expectations, social gender norms), affect (e.g., negative affectivity, emotional distress), and social factors (e.g., social exclusion) may be particularly relevant in the pain experiences of transgender individuals. The coalescence of these factors is discussed in this review, where authors specifically consider how these cognitive, affective, and social factors may contribute to pain disparities seen in transgender individuals. Patient-centered communication is presented as a potential avenue to directly mitigate the effect of these psychosocial variables on pain in transgender individuals by reducing feelings of social exclusion transgender patients may experience in the medical office, and the authors call for additional experimental research and the development of educational interventions for providers.
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spelling doaj-art-3c80430688d140febf97b501a87fbc3b2025-08-20T03:15:05ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Pain Research2673-561X2025-04-01610.3389/fpain.2025.15465261546526Psychosocial influences on pain in transgender individualsKelly S. Clemens0John Matkovic1Abby Odelson2Audrey Strain3Eric D. Wesselmann4Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, United StatesDepartment of Health Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, United StatesPain is an unpleasant and unavoidable part of the human experience, but the prevalence and impact of pain disproportionately impacts marginalized groups, including transgender and gender-diverse people. While there are many bases of pain, psychosocial variables, including cognitions (e.g., outcome and interpersonal expectations, social gender norms), affect (e.g., negative affectivity, emotional distress), and social factors (e.g., social exclusion) may be particularly relevant in the pain experiences of transgender individuals. The coalescence of these factors is discussed in this review, where authors specifically consider how these cognitive, affective, and social factors may contribute to pain disparities seen in transgender individuals. Patient-centered communication is presented as a potential avenue to directly mitigate the effect of these psychosocial variables on pain in transgender individuals by reducing feelings of social exclusion transgender patients may experience in the medical office, and the authors call for additional experimental research and the development of educational interventions for providers.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2025.1546526/fulltransgender (binary and non-binary)painexclusionsocial paincognitionaffect
spellingShingle Kelly S. Clemens
John Matkovic
Abby Odelson
Audrey Strain
Eric D. Wesselmann
Psychosocial influences on pain in transgender individuals
Frontiers in Pain Research
transgender (binary and non-binary)
pain
exclusion
social pain
cognition
affect
title Psychosocial influences on pain in transgender individuals
title_full Psychosocial influences on pain in transgender individuals
title_fullStr Psychosocial influences on pain in transgender individuals
title_full_unstemmed Psychosocial influences on pain in transgender individuals
title_short Psychosocial influences on pain in transgender individuals
title_sort psychosocial influences on pain in transgender individuals
topic transgender (binary and non-binary)
pain
exclusion
social pain
cognition
affect
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2025.1546526/full
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