Study: Trans children more likely to have mental health issues

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

Trans children as young as nine suffer from a range of mental health problems, according to new research.

They are almost six times as likely to feel suicidal than their cisgender peers, say scientists.

Rates of depression, anxiety and behavioral problems including ADHD also rise up to threefold.

The findings suggest young adolescents wanting to change gender are more disturbed than previously feared.

Corresponding author Dr. Ken Pang, of the University of Melbourne, believes it could be due to stigma stress, discrimination or dissatisfaction with their gender.

He said: "Previous research using clinical samples of transgender children aged five to eleven reported lower rates of depression and anxiety than we observed in this cohort study.

"A possible reason for this disparity is that transgender children attending specialist gender clinics are likely to have support from their families - a key protective factor for the mental health of transgender young people.

"In comparison, many transgender children in the general population lack parental support for their gender."

The team analyzed data on more than 7,000 nine and ten-year-olds from the US enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.

They identified conditions from the DSM-5 (the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

Known as the bible of psychiatry, it is used mainly in the US - but is influential around the world.

Participants were asked: "Are you transgender?" Fewer than one in a hundred (58) answered in the affirmative.

Dr. Pang runs a pediatric practice that focuses on the care of transgender children and adolescents.

He said past research has pointed to "concerning levels of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues."

But much has focused on transgender young people attending specialist gender clinics which may miscalculate prevalence and severity.

The ABCD is the largest long-term study of child health of its kind - and represents a general population.

Dr. Pang said: "This is, to our knowledge, the first study to report rates of DSM-5–related problems using a representative population sample of transgender children.

"Our findings suggest that by nine to ten years of age transgender children already show increased susceptibility to mental health problems compared with peers, which has important public health implications."

He added: "Whether this is due to stigma, minority stress, discrimination or gender dysphoria is unclear.

"But providing appropriate mental health supports to this vulnerable group is paramount."

Support services for trans children in the US can be found here.

In April, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid promised a review of gender treatment services for children in England.

There is one Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) service in England, with clinics in London, Bristol and Leeds, with other satellite services offering support.

They see approximately 2,500 young people each year, of whom fewer than one in ten have access to hormone treatment. Girls are more often referred than boys.

Last month the government announced every child treated in the last decade will have their medical records scrutinized to see how many regret transitioning.