Love addiction and gender modality:an empirical, comparative study involving Italian transgender and cisgender individuals

Introduction Love addiction is a state of addiction to relationships, from which dysfunctional emotions and behaviors develop, leading individuals to have a constant need for the other person and to failure in attempts of detachment. Given its recent scientific understanding, the study of love addiction has not yet been extended to the transgender community.Aims The present study aims to integrate gender modality into the study of love addiction. Specifically, the aims are to analyze the dynamics of love addiction by comparing a group of transgender people to a group of cisgender people, and considering the variables of emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, stress, anxiety, depression and minority stress, with the latter influencing the phenomenon of addiction.Methods The study involved a group comprising 109 transgender participants, and a group comprising 111 cisgender participants. Participants completed a sociodemographic form and a test battery of 5 instruments, assessing love addiction, emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, depression, anxiety, stress and gender minority stress.Results The trans group did not report higher levels of love addiction. The relationship between gender minority stress and love addiction was significant and it was mediated by emotional dysregulation.Discussion Our study suggested that transgender people report higher levels of impulsivity, emotional dysregulation and psychological distress. Nonetheless, the relationship between being trans and love addiction appears to be complex.