Outcomes of Ethnic Minority Transfemale Participants in a Longitudinal Co-Occurring PTSD and Substance Abuse Progra

This study examines the mental health outcomes and functional progress of the transgender participants of Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team's Project HEAL at three intervals: intake, discharge, and six-month follow-up. HEAL implemented twelve weeks of the Seeking Safety programmatic intervention to transgender women who reported co-occurring substance abuse and life trauma. Participants completed the GPRA, BDI, BAI, and the PCL. Participants reported a reduction in substance abuse, anxiety and depression, and PTSD symptoms, increase in employment, increase in their personal rating of their overall health, increase in their social support, but no change in their housing status. Participants who completed only the intake and discharge (but not the follow-up) test batteries reported a significant decrease in depression and PTSD symptoms, and no significant change in anxiety from intake to discharge. There were no significant differences with regard to mental health or functional outcomes between the group who completed the six-month follow-up and the group who completed only the intake and discharge tests. Finally, participants' rating of social support increased significantly from 0-3 months, and then decreased slightly from 3-6 months. Several clinical implications, limitations, and future studies are highlighted.