
Marco A. Hidalgo, PhD, MA
Suite 204
Santa Monica, California 90404
About
Marco A. Hidalgo, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, researcher, and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA. Born and raised in Southern California, he completed doctoral training at DePaul University and post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Hidalgo provides short-term, evidence-based psychotherapy services to patients of the Gender Health Program, ranging from children to adults. He sees patients at UCLA Health outpatient locations in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.
Languages
Education
Degree
Recognitions
Locations
Santa Monica 16th Street Internal Medicine & Pediatrics

Areas of Focus
Research
Interests
In his NIH-sponsored research, Dr. Hidalgo focuses on sexual and gender minorities, with notable research pertaining to measure construction, design and efficacy-testing of group and mHealth HIV prevention interventions, and approaches to multidisciplinary gender-affirmative care with trans/gender-diverse youth. Dr. Hidalgo is Principal Investigator of Gender Journey Project, a five-year study examining gender development and mental health among a national sample of prepubertal trans/gender-diverse children.
Publications
Noteworthy publications include:
- Hidalgo MA, Cotten C, Johnson AK, Kuhns L, Garofalo R. "Yes, I am more than just that": Gay/bisexual young men residing in the US discuss the influence of minority stress on their sexual risk behavior prior to HIV infection. PMID/PMCID not yet assigned, International Journal of Sexual Health. 25(4):291-304, 2013.
- Simons LK, Leibowitz SF, Hidalgo MA. Understanding gender variance in children and adolescents. Pediatric Annals. 43(6):e126-31, 2014. PMID: 24972420
- Hidalgo MA, Kuhns LM, L. HA, Mustanski B, Garofalo R. The MyPEEPS randomized controlled trial: A pilot of preliminary efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability of a group-level, HIV-risk reduction intervention for young men who have sex with men. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 44(2):475-85, 2014. PMID: 25135064, PMCID: PMC4559339
- Hidalgo MA, Kuhns LM, Kwon S, Mustanski B, Garofalo R. The impact of childhood gender expression on childhood sexual abuse and psychopathology among young men who have sex with men. Child Abuse & Neglect. 46:103-12, 2015. PMID: 26002599, PMCID: 4527874
- Hidalgo MA, Chen D, Garofalo R, Forbes C. Perceived Parental Attitudes of Gender Expansiveness: Development and Preliminary Factor Structure of a Self-report Youth Questionnaire. Transgender Health. 2(1), 180-187; 2017. PMID: 29159312, PMCID: PMC5685204
- Garthe RC, Hidalgo MA, Hereth J, Garofalo R, Reisner S, Mimiaga MJ, Kuhns L. Prevalence and risk correlates of intimate partner violence among a multi-site cohort of young transgender women. LGBT Health. 5(6), 333-340; 2018. PMID: 30059268, PMCID: PMC6145036
- Hidalgo MA, Suarez N, Garofalo R, Hoehnle S, Thai J, Mimiaga MJ, Brown E, Sullivan P, Bratcher A, Wimbly T, Stephenson R. Clinically Significant Depressive Symptoms among a Diverse Sample of Same-Sex Male Couples in Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago: An Analysis of Individual- and Dyadic-level Factors. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health. 22(4); 327-347; 2018. PMID/PMC not yet assigned.
- Hidalgo MA, Chen D. Experiences of Gender Minority Stress in Cisgender Parents of Transgender/Gender-expansive Prepubertal Children: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Family Issues. 40(7): 865-886, 2019. PMID: 33911325. PMCID: PMC8078838.
- Hidalgo MA, Petras H, Chen D, Chodzen G. The Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Measure: Psychometric validity of an adolescent extension. Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology. 7 (3):278-290, 2019. PMID: 33224698. PMCID: PMC7678225
- Hidalgo MA, Layland E, Kubicek K, Kipke M. Sexual racism, psychological symptoms, and mindfulness among ethnically/racially-diverse young men who have sex with men: A moderation analysis. Mindfulness. 2019; 11(2):452-461. PMID: 35082927. PMCID: PMC8789003
- Chen D, Abrams M, Clark L, Ehrensaft D, Tishelman AC, Chan YM, Garofalo R, Olson-Kennedy J, Rosenthal SM, Hidalgo MA. Psychosocial Characteristics of Transgender Youth Seeking Gender-Affirming Medical Treatment: Baseline Findings From the Trans Youth Care Study. J Adolesc Health. 2020:S1054-139X(20)30453-5. PMID: 32839079, PMCID: Not yet assigned
- Garthe RC, Hidalgo MA, Goffnett J, Hereth J, Garofalo R, Reisner SL, Mimiaga MJ, Kuhns LM. Young transgender women survivors of intimate partner violence: A latent class analysis of protective processes. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. 2020; 7(4), 386-395. PMID: 30059268, PMCID: PMC6145036