Angelo Brandelli Costa serves as academic editor of US journal Plos One
Photo: Camila Cunha
The professor of the Graduate Programs in Psychology and in Social Sciences and coordinator of the Research Group in Prejudice, Vulnerability and Psychosocial Processes, Dr Angelo Brandelli Costa, gained international recognition with a publication in the US journal Plos One, from Public Library of Science. Serving as the academic editor of the journal, Brandeli was invited to review a controversial study, headed by a professor from Brown University. His review was highlighted in several newspapers and websites, including Wikipedia.
The Brown University professor designed a new diagnostic criterion based on the idea that some teenagers were being incited by their peers and by the media to self-identify as transgender. However, her study presented the parent’s accounts and did not include any testimonials from the kids themselves. Costa discussed the importance of addressing the teenagers directly in gender dysphoria studies. He has suggested a longitudinal study conducted by mental health professionals or a cross-sectional study where the transgender youth would answer questions about their networks and influences. “It is very important to study sexual and gender diversity in youth as they are usually neglected. Little is known about how variation and gender show in childhood”, he comments.
In Costa’s view, the popularity his publication gained all over the world will earn his research group more authority in global discussions on this topic. “We have recently published the first article of our study on vulnerability in the health of young transgender in Brazil”, with students and researchers from the Graduate Program in Psychology of PUCRS and Psychiatry of UFRGS”, he says. The study looks at the use of substances and has found that social factors, discrimination and the lack of a permanent home will increase the use of weed, tranquilizers, cocaine and controlled substances. “We hope to publish more articles on these kids soon”, he says.
Prejudice, vulnerability and psychosocial processes
The group coordinated by Costa has been working on several investigations in this area, including some in partnership with the Gender Identity program of the Hospital de Clínicas of Porto Alegre. They look at the mental health of transgender individuals in Rio Grande do Sul and the impact of discrimination, barriers in the access to health care as well as the prevalence and incidence of sexually transmitted diseases.
The most recently study shows that psychological pain reported by transgender people is, above anything else, associated with discrimination they go through rather than something related to transsexuality. “Consequently, being transgender is no longer classified as a mental illness and is now considered a sexual health condition according to the new international classification of diseases, which is yet to be published”, he comments. The group is part of the World Health Organization Committee that is trying out the new diagnostic method of gender incongruence in Brazil.
LGBTQI outreach
The team headed by Costa has created, in partnership with the Service for Psychological Care and Research (SAPP/PUCRS), an outreach group for the LGBT population suffering from mental issues. The group’s office is located on the 2nd floor of Building 11. It is open to the audience on Wednesdays, at 4 PM.
