The Influence of Perceived Peer Norms on Transgender University Students' Alcohol Use

Heavy drinking is prevalent in university students and is associated with concerning health consequences, but alcohol use has not been examined closely for transgender students in Canada. This study is a secondary data analysis using cross-sectional data from 64,650 Canadian university students. The study's aims included describing patterns of alcohol use and alcohol-related harms for students with different gender identities and determining if gender identity moderated associations between alcohol use and alcohol-related harms and between descriptive norms and alcohol outcomes. Differences in alcohol outcomes were observed between cisgender men and cisgender women, between cisgender and transgender participants, and between three transgender subgroups. A moderating effect of gender identity was observed for binary versus nonbinary students' alcohol use and for cisgender women versus cisgender men. Directions for future research include considering the effect of gender minority stress and clinical implications include addressing suicidal ideation and sexual violence in transgender students.