Mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and attention deficit disorder (ADD) are much higher among transgender and gender non-conforming youth.

‘Transgender and gender-nonconforming youth develop mental health conditions due to the pressure they face questioning about their gender identity.’

The investigators examined the prevalence of mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.




In nearly all instances, mental health diagnoses were more common for transgender and gender-nonconforming youth than for youth who identify with the gender assigned at birth, also known as cisgender youth.
"We looked at mental health in transgender and gender-nonconforming youth retrospectively between 2006 and 2014 and found that these youths had three to 13 times the mental health conditions of their cisgender counterparts," said the study's lead author, Tracy A. Becerra-Culqui, PhD, MPH, of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation.
"Among these young people, the most prevalent diagnoses were attention deficit disorders in children, 3 to 9 years of age, and depressive disorders in adolescents, 10 to 17 years of age."
This study, which was based on information in the electronic health record, included 1,347 transgender and gender-nonconforming youth 3 to 17 years who are members of Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, Northern California and Georgia.
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The most common diagnoses for transgender and gender-nonconforming children and adolescents were:
- Attention deficit disorder (transfeminine: 15 percent, transmasculine: 16 percent). These numbers are 3 to 7 times higher than the matched cisgender reference group.
- Depressive disorder (transfeminine: 49 percent, transmasculine: 62 percent). These numbers are 4 to 7 times higher than the matched cisgender reference group.
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The authors noted that the conditions may be related to gender dysphoria, a feeling of distress when one's assigned gender does not match their identity.
Also, young people with gender-nonconforming behavior may experience stress from prejudice and discrimination, which can cause or exacerbate emotional or behavioral problems.
Source-Eurekalert