Original articlePsychosocial Characteristics of Transgender Youth Seeking Gender-Affirming Medical Treatment: Baseline Findings From the Trans Youth Care Study
Section snippets
Participants and recruitment
TYC is an ongoing, multisite, observational study evaluating mental health, well-being, and metabolic/physiologic parameters in two developmental cohorts of TNB youth initiating medical treatment for GD as part of their clinical care either with (1) GnRHa administered for puberty suppression in early puberty (e.g., Tanner Stages 2 and 3; hereon, “GnRHa cohort”) or (2) GAH (i.e., testosterone or estrogen) administered for phenotypic gender transition in later puberty (e.g., Tanner Stages 4 and
GnRHa cohort
A total of 95 youth comprised the GnRHa cohort (Table 1). Youth were aged 11.2 years on average (range 8–16, SD = 1.46), and the cohort was majority white (52.6%) and designated male at birth (51.6%). Almost half (47.4%) reported a gender identity on the female spectrum (i.e., transfeminine), 43.2% reported a gender identity on the male spectrum (i.e., transmasculine), and 9.5% reported a nonbinary gender identity. Youth designated male at birth were older than youth designated female at birth,
Discussion
This study examined baseline mental health, well-being, and gender-specific experiences among two TYC cohorts: youth initiating GnRHa and youth initiating GAH treatment. GnRHa cohort youth recognized their gender as different from their designated sex at birth, on average, at an age approximately 4 years younger than GAH cohort youth and were able to access gender-affirming medical treatment earlier in development. It is possible that early access to medical treatment, which prevents an
References (34)
- et al.
Characteristics of referrals for gender dysphoria over a 13-year period
J Adolesc Health
(2016) - et al.
Mental health of transgender youth in care at an adolescent urban community health center: A matched retrospective cohort study
J Adolesc Health
(2015) - et al.
The mental health of transgender youth: Advances in understanding
J Adolesc Health
(2016) - et al.
Psychological support, puberty suppression, and psychosocial functioning in adolescents with gender dysphoria
J Sex Med
(2015) - et al.
Puberty suppression in adolescents with gender identity disorder: A prospective follow-up study
J Sex Med
(2011) - et al.
Parental support and mental health among transgender adolescents
J Adolesc Health
(2013) - et al.
Baseline physiologic and psychosocial characteristics of transgender youth seeking care for gender dysphoria
J Adolesc Health
(2015) - et al.
A network analysis of body satisfaction of people with gender dysphoria
Body Image
(2016) - et al.
Trends in referrals to a pediatric transgender clinic
Pediatrics
(2019) - et al.
Transgender adolescent suicide behavior
Pediatrics
(2018)
Mental health of transgender and gender nonconforming youth compared with their peers
Pediatrics
Young adult psychological outcome after puberty suppression and gender reassignment
Pediatrics
Well-being and suicidality among transgender youth after gender-affirming hormones
Clin Pract Pediatr Psychol
Body dissatisfaction and mental health outcomes of youth on gender-affirming hormone therapy
Pediatrics
Endocrine treatment of gender-dysphoric/gender-incongruent persons: An endocrine society clinical practice guideline
J Clin Endocrinol Metab
The right to best care for children does not include the right to medical transition
Am J Bioeth
Impact of early medical treatment for transgender youth: Protocol for the longitudinal, observational Trans youth care study
JMIR Res Protoc
Cited by (39)
Changes in Gender Dysphoria, Interpersonal Minority Stress, and Mental Health Among Transgender Youth After One Year of Hormone Therapy
2024, Journal of Adolescent HealthMental Health and Gender Affirmation of Black and Latine Transgender/Nonbinary Youth Compared to White Peers Prior to Hormone Initiation
2023, Journal of Adolescent HealthBans on Gender-Affirming Healthcare: The Adolescent Medicine Provider's Dilemma
2023, Journal of Adolescent HealthThe care of transgender children and adolescents in France: Recent controversies and ethical issues
2022, Neuropsychiatrie de l'Enfance et de l'Adolescence
Conflicts of interest: The authors have no financial disclosures or conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.