The transgender awareness webinar: Reducing transphobia among undergraduates and mental health providers

ABSTRACTThe present two-part study involved the development, dissemination, and pre- and post-assessment of the effectiveness of the Transgender Awareness Webinar to reduce transphobia—stigma towards transgender individuals. The goal of the webinar was to educate undergraduates and mental health providers about transgender individuals and reduce transphobic attitudes. In Study 1, 303 undergraduates at a state university in the Northeastern U.S. completed electronic pretest and posttest measures of the Transphobia Scale before and after participating in the webinar. In Study 2, the Transgender Awareness Webinar was expanded to include mental health content and disseminated to 158 mental health providers. Results from Study 1 and Study 2 revealed that the transphobic attitudes significantly reduced from pretest to posttest test scores on the Transphobia Scale after completing the webinar. Findings suggest that transgender awareness training can be effective for reducing transphobia among various groups, wit...