Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
New researchFactors Associated With Desistence and Persistence of Childhood Gender Dysphoria: A Quantitative Follow-Up Study
Section snippets
Participants and Procedure
The study sample consisted of 127 adolescents (79 boys, 48 girls), who were referred and diagnosed in childhood (< 12 years of age) at the Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This sample differs from the previous persistence study from the Amsterdam clinic.3 The diagnostic procedure in childhood consisted of several sessions with the child and/or the parents, including an psychodiagnostic assessment of
Combination of Response Groups
For the 3 desister groups, no significant differences were observed between the responders, parents who responded, and nonresponders for the demographic variables, except for childhood diagnosis (χ2[2] = 6.90, p < .05). The adolescents for whom the parents responded were more likely to have a subthreshold diagnosis for GID than the responders and nonresponders. However, in their scores on the childhood measures of GD and psychological functioning, the 3 groups were not significantly different.
Discussion
The present study aimed to identify associated factors with the persistence of GD into adolescence, and to assess the current feelings of GD, body image, and sexual orientation. Our findings regarding the gender identity of the adolescents were in line with the earlier findings; the persisters reported higher intensities of GD, more body dissatisfaction, and higher reports of a same-sex sexual orientation compared to the desisters.3, 4 As for the factors associated with the persistence of GD,
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This article is discussed in an editorial by Dr. Peter T. Daniolos on page 569.
Disclosure: Drs. McGuire, Kreukels, Steensma, and Cohen-Kettenis, and Ms. Beekman report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.