Presentations   •   Publications

The over-arching goal of my research agenda focuses on reducing othering of those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, plus (LGBTQ+) community and other underserved populations and their experiences of identity development, trauma, and resilience. LGBTQ+ people face unique circumstances navigating their development in a world that can be less than accepting of them and even outright hostile. This is illustrated by the reality that LGBTQ+ people, especially the trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer individuals within that population, are more likely to have trauma and adverse experiences (Nadal, 2019). Thus, as the trans and queer population grows (Jones, 2022), and as a result more openly out individuals from this population seek mental health care, the literature base must expand toward the construction and understanding of terms and concepts around trans-specific identities, developmental experiences, and mental health engagement.

When it comes to research in the field, I feel that it is important that it is achieved through within-community research led by investigators who are part of the communities being studied. Having those who identify with the community perform and lead the research allows for less othering and for nuance and understanding that are less attainable for members of the dominant group. As a trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer researcher and therapist, I am excited to have the opportunity to serve my community in this way. I look forward to continuing to generate new insights that speak to and inform on the realities of those in the LGBTQ+ community and others with both adverse and resilient experiences by continuing research and developing the literature base in the following areas:

Contributions to the Field
The thesis project for my Master of Science in Human Development and Family Science, with a focus on Marriage and Famly Therapy, was a qualitative narrative analysis of the experiences of rural U.S. trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer individuals’ identity development centering around their identity development and with an explicit focus on queer identity development in the context of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) using the lenses of intersectionality and minority stress. Participant comments demonstrated resilience in relation to overcoming hardships and how the significance of having access to the LGBTQ+ community, including virtual access, has important implications for mental health and family science professionals. Including potential resilience prospects relating to the use of online and other digital technology with this population. This research is in the review process under the title “My Family Just Totally Rejected It”: A Narrative Exploration into Rural U.S. Trans and Gender Variant Identities and Adverse Stress Experiences (Zeiger & Hartenstein, n.d.) and partial preliminary findings were presented as part of a presentation titled Trans and Gender Variant, Identity Development and Adverse Childhood Experiences at the Missouri Department of Mental Health’s Spring Training Institute in 2021.

Other research has been published in the form of a critical commentary about How the Compulsory Gender Binary Language in the DSM-5’s Category of Sexual Interest Disorders Interacts Negatively with Patients’ Nonbinary and Genderqueer Identities (Zeiger & Ball, 2021). This article delves into the literature and examines concerns that the sexual interest and arousal disorders in the current iteration of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders relate to nonbinary and other genderqueer identities negatively. Explicitly positing that negative interaction occurs in relation to accessibility to diagnosis, the restriction of research support of nonbinary and genderqueer individuals, and an increase in the probability of marginalization and minority stress in clinical and other spaces.

Recently, I was a co-investigator for a $22,000 grant awarded project State Education, Economic & Victim Services Policies: Opportunities for Child Maltreatment Mitigation across the Prevention Continuum I am the second author of research looking into Child Care Subsidies: Opportunities for Prevention of Child Maltreatment​ (Rochford et al., 2022) as an examination of the association between state policy components shaping the financial accessibility of child care subsidies and states’ annual substantiated rates of several forms of child maltreatment. This research used Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model as a lens to contextualize how societal-level and community-level policies and pathways to economic security shape family function in a way that may reduce the occurrence of child maltreatment. Through generalized estimator equations (GEE), we identified positive, significant associations between policies that make it more difficult to qualify for childcare subsidies and substantiated rates of several forms of maltreatment. Additional research manuscripts for which I am the second author for this project include, Family Violence Victim Services Access: Opportunities for Child Maltreatment Prevention (Rochford et al., n.d.) and State-Level Education Policies: Opportunities for Secondary Prevention of Child Maltreatment (Rochford et al., n.d.) and are in the review or publication process.

Current Projects and Future Work
I am currently a co-investigator for a $8,500 grant awarded project into Loss of Safe Spaces: How Ethnically and Sexually Marginalized Communities Utilize Resiliency to Combat Minority Stressors and Adverse Mental Health Outcomes During COVID-19. I am the second author on a preliminary lightning paper titled Loss of Safe Spaces: Ambiguous Loss and Minority Stressors of BIPOC LGBTQ+ Communities Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic (Gutierrez et al., 2022) presented at the National Council on Family Relations 2022 conference. Additionally, I will use the dataset generated from this project to investigate evidence toward validation of using each of the following measurement scales with the BIPOC LGBTQ+ population: LGBT Minority Stress Measure (LGBT-MSM, Ogunbajo et al., 2020); Family Environment and Identity Support Scale (FES-ISS, Doty et al., 2010; Negy & Snyder, 2006); Social Network Analysis (SNA, Milton & Knutson, 2021); Connectedness to the LGBT Community Scale (LGBT-CC, Frost & Meyer, 2012).

I am in the process of researching trans-specific milestones and conceptualizing them as normative developmental experiences within human development literature and models. There is a need for accessible, cohesive information that presents trans experiences and development as normal in the human development literature in general and the literature used for the instruction of future care and service providers. Preliminary findings were presented under the title The Need for Constructing Trans-Specific Milestones for Trans Identity Development Research and Literature: Age of Realization, Coming Out, and Transition at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy - Queer and Trans Advocacy Network Conference in 2021.

A future research goal for work on my Master of Arts in Educational Measurement and  Statistics project includes investigating evidence toward validating the use of the 10-point version of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Questionnaire (Felitti & Anda, 2008) for measuring latent childhood trauma in the trans, nonbinary, and gender diverse population.

A future research goal for work on my Doctorate in Philosophy in Couple and Family Therapy dissertation project includes a mixed methods approach to discovering what the best practices for inclusive paperwork and intake forms for LGBTQ+ individuals are. As there is a gap in the literature around what are the best practices for paperwork and intake processes for this population in clinical settings. Some trans-specific preliminary literature review and methodology proposals were presented under the title Working Towards Trans Inclusive Intake Paperwork and Processes at the Transgender Professional Association for Transgender Health 2021 Conference.