Gender Identity Disorder Of Childhood
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Gender dysphoria in children (GD), also known as gender incongruence of childhood, is a formal diagnosis for
child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...
ren who experience significant discontent (
gender dysphoria Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder (GID) was used until ...
) due to a mismatch between their
assigned sex Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of birt ...
and
gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder in children (GIDC) was used by the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langua ...
(DSM) until it was renamed ''gender dysphoria in children'' in 2013 with the release of the
DSM-5 The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition'' (DSM-5), is the 2013 update to the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', the taxonomic and diagnostic tool published by the American Psychiatric ...
. The diagnosis was renamed to remove the stigma associated with the term ''disorder''. Controversy surrounding the
pathologization Medicalization is the process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions, and thus become the subject of medical study, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment. Medicalization can be driven by new evid ...
and treatment of a transgender identity and associated behaviors, particularly in children, has been evident in the literature since the 1980s. The majority of major medical associations such as the
American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the
World Professional Association for Transgender Health The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA), is a professional organization devoted to the understanding and treatment of gender identity and g ...
consider attempts to change a person's gender identity to be
conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...
. The practice is considered unethical, pathologizing, and seriously harmful to transgender youth. Researchers also argue that therapeutic interventions that aim to alter a child's gender identity rely on the assumption that an adult transgender identity is undesirable, challenging this assumption along with the lack of clinical data to support outcomes and
efficacy Efficacy is the ability to perform a task to a satisfactory or expected degree. The word comes from the same roots as ''effectiveness'', and it has often been used synonymously, although in pharmacology a pragmatic clinical trial#Efficacy versu ...
. Proponents of the older therapeutic approach to intervention argue that therapeutic intervention helps children be more comfortable in their bodies, have better peer relations and therefore better
self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
, that research indicates there exist forms of distress associated directly with children's gender variance, and that treatment can prevent adult GD. More modern therapeutic interventions do not seek to change a child's gender identity, but are instead focused on creating a supportive and safe environment for the child to explore their gender identity and gender expression.


Classification

Children with persistent gender dysphoria are characterized by more extreme gender dysphoria in childhood than children with desisting gender dysphoria. Some (but not all)
gender variant Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...
youth will want or need to transition, which may involve social transition (changing dress, name, pronoun), and, for older youth and adolescents, medical transition ( hormone therapy or surgery).


DSM-5 (2013)

In May 2013, the
American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involve ...
published the
DSM-5 The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition'' (DSM-5), is the 2013 update to the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', the taxonomic and diagnostic tool published by the American Psychiatric ...
update to the ''
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langua ...
'', in which the GIDC diagnosis was removed and replaced with gender dysphoria, for the first time in its own distinct chapter.American Psychiatric Association. (2013). "Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders" (5th ed.). Washington, DC., Subtyping by sexual orientation was deleted. The diagnosis for children was separated from that for adults. The creation of a specific diagnosis for children reflects the lesser ability of children to have insight into what they are experiencing, or ability to express it in the event that they have insight. Signs and symptoms, as outlined by the DSM-5, include a marked incongruence between experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender, of at least six months duration, as manifested by at least six of the following (one of which must be criterion A1): *A strong desire to be of the other gender or an insistence that one is the other gender *A strong preference for wearing clothes typical of the opposite gender *A strong preference for cross-gender roles in make-believe play or fantasy play *A strong preference for the toys, games or activities stereotypically used or engaged in by the other gender *A strong preference for playmates of the other gender *A strong rejection of toys, games and activities typical of one's assigned gender *A strong dislike of one's sexual anatomy *A strong desire for the physical sex characteristics that match one's experienced gender B. The condition is associated with clinically significant distress or impairment in social, school, or other important areas of functioning.


International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

The International Classification of Diseases (
ICD-10 ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), a medical classification list by the World Health Organization (WHO). It contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms, ...
) lists several disorders related to gender identity, including gender identity disorder of childhood (F64.2): Persistent and intense distress about one's assigned gender, manifested prior to puberty. The current edition has five different diagnoses for gender identity disorder, including one for when it manifests during childhood.World Health Organization (May 1990)
Disorders of adult personality and behaviour F60-F69
The diagnoses of gender identity disorder is not given to
intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...
individuals (those born with "ambiguous" genitalia). Additionally, as with all psychological disorders, these symptoms must cause direct distress and an impairment of functioning of the individual exhibiting the symptoms.
F64.2 Gender identity disorder of childhood: A disorder, usually first manifest during early childhood (and always well before puberty), characterized by a ''persistent and intense distress about assigned sex'', together with ''a desire to be (or insistence that one is) of the other sex''. There is a ''persistent preoccupation with the dress and activities of the opposite sex'' and ''repudiation of the individual's own sex''. The diagnosis requires a profound disturbance of the normal gender identity; mere tomboyishness in girls or girlish behavior in boys is not sufficient. Gender identity disorders in individuals who have reached or are entering puberty should not be classified here but in F66.0.
The ICD-11 significantly revises classification of gender identity-related conditions. Under "conditions related to sexual health", the ICD-11 lists "gender incongruence", which is coded into three conditions: * Gender incongruence of adolescence or adulthood (HA60): replaces F64.0 * Gender incongruence of childhood (HA61): replaces F64.2 * Gender incongruence, unspecified (HA6Z): replaces F64.9


Persistence

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "by age four most children have a stable sense of their gender identity" and "research substantiates that children who are prepubertal and assert transgender or gender diverse identityknow their gender as clearly and as consistently as their developmentally equivalent peers who identify as cisgender and benefit from the same level of social acceptance". If gender dysphoria persists during puberty, it is very likely permanent. For children with gender dysphoria, the period between 10 and 13 years is crucial with regard to long-term gender identity. Factors that are associated with gender dysphoria persisting through puberty include intensity of gender dysphoria, amount of cross-gendered behavior, and verbal identification with the desired/experienced gender (i.e. stating that they ''are'' a different gender rather than ''wish to be'' a different gender). Prospective studies have reported that gender dysphoria in children is more heavily linked to adult homosexuality than to an adult transgender identity, especially with regard to boys. The studies state that the majority of children diagnosed with gender dysphoria did not desire to be the other sex by
puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...
, with most growing up to identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, with or without therapeutic intervention. The studies have been used to argue for more caution or delays in socially or medically transitioning transgender youth. The prospective studies have been criticized as irrelevant on the basis that they counted as ' desistance' cases where the child was simply
gender-nonconforming Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...
rather than dysphoric and tracked diagnoses rather than gender identity or desire to transition, leading to inflation of the desistance statistics. The majority of desistance research relies on four studies published since 2008. While the subjects met the criteria for gender identity disorder as defined in the DSM-III or DSM-IV, many would not have met the updated criteria for gender dysphoria in the
DSM-5 The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition'' (DSM-5), is the 2013 update to the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', the taxonomic and diagnostic tool published by the American Psychiatric ...
, established in 2013, which unlike prior versions explicitly requires identification with a gender other than assigned at birth. In one study, 40% of those classified as "desisters" were subthreshold even for the DSM-IV criteria. The four studies all offered evidence that statement of transgender identity in childhood predicted transgender identity in adolescence andadulthood and the intensity of gender dysphoria in childhood likewise predicted its intensity later in life. The studies published from the 1960-1980's never used the term desistance, instead focusing on "gender-deviant behavior" - childhood femininity in people assigned male at birth - and how this more often predicts homosexuality rather than "transsexualism" in adulthood. Additionally, some of the research since 2000 and all the research prior has been criticized for citing studies that used
conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...
: either discouraging social transition, explicitly trying to prevent or discourage the child from identifying as transgender as an adult by adulthood or adolescence, or actively employing techniques to limit there "gender-deviant" behavior. The term "desistance" itself has been criticized as pathologizing for its roots in criminal research and
oppositional defiance disorder Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is listed in the DSM-5 under ''Disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders'' and defined as "a pattern of angry/irritable Mood (psychology), mood, argumentative/defiant behavior, or vindictiveness". T ...
, where desistance is considered a positive outcome. A systematic review of research relating to desistance was published in 2022. It found that desistance was poorly defined: studies sometimes didn't define it or equally defined it as desistance of transgender identity or desistance of gender dysphoria. They also found none of the definitions allowed for dynamic or nonbinary gender identities and the majority of articles published were editorial pieces. They stated the concept was based on biased research from the 1960-80s and poor quality research in the 2000s. They concluded there was a "dearth of high-quality hypothesis-driven research that currently exists" on the subject, and suggested that desistance should "be removed from clinical and research discourse to focus instead on supporting ransgender and gender-expansiveyouth rather than attempting to predict their future gender identity." According to a review published in 2022 considering more recent studies, the majority of pre-pubertal children who socially transition persist in their identity in 5 to 7 year follow ups.


Prevalence

According to a review published in 2020 relying on recent statistical surveys, 1.2% to 2.7% of children and adolescents identify as transgender. The data was drawn more from studies of adolescents than pre-pubertal youth and noted a difference in methodological quality between studies published before and after 2010. The review notes rising numbers of youth are self-identifying as trans and calls for more systematic studies and reviews in future.


Management

The WPATH Standards of Care and other therapeutic interventions do not seek to change a child's gender identity. Instead, clinicians advise children and their parents to avoid goals based on gender identity and to instead cope with the child's distress by embracing psychoeducation and to be supportive of their gender variant identity and behavior as it develops. A clinician may suggest that the parent be attentive, listen, and encourage an environment for the child to explore and express their identified gender identity, which may be termed ''the true gender''. This can remove the stigma associated with their dysphoria, as well as the pressure to conform to a gender identity or role they do not identify with, which may be termed ''the false gender self''. WPATH Standards of Care also recommend assessing and treating any co-existing mental health issues. By contrast, the majority of major medical associations define attempts to change an individual's gender identity or gender expression as
conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...
. Treatment may also take the form of
puberty blockers Puberty blockers, also called puberty inhibitors or hormone blockers, are medicines used to postpone puberty in children. The most commonly used puberty blockers are gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, which suppress the production ...
(such as
leuprorelin Leuprorelin, also known as leuprolide, is a manufactured version of a hormone used to treat prostate cancer, breast cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, as part of transgender hormone therapy, for early puberty, or to perform chemical castra ...
), cross-sex hormones (i.e., administering estrogen to a child assigned male at birth or testosterone to a child assigned female at birth), or sex reassignment surgery with the aim of bringing one's physical body in line with their identified gender. Delaying puberty allows for the child to mentally mature while preventing them from developing a body they may not want, so that they may hopefully make a more informed decision about their gender identity once they are an adolescent. It can also help reduce
anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
and depression. Short-term side effects of puberty blockers include headaches, fatigue, insomnia, muscle aches and changes in breast tissue, mood, and weight. Research on the long-term effects on brain development, cognitive function, fertility, and sexual function is limited. According to the
American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involve ...
, "Due to the dynamic nature of puberty development, lack of gender-affirming interventions (i.e. social, psychological, and medical) is not a neutral decision; youth often experience worsening dysphoria and negative impact on mental health as the incongruent and unwanted puberty progresses. Trans-affirming treatment, such as the use of puberty suppression, is associated with the relief of emotional distress, and notable gains in psychosocial and emotional development, in trans and gender diverse youth". In its position statement published December 2020, the
Endocrine Society The Endocrine Society is a professional, international medical organization in the field of endocrinology and metabolism, founded in 1916 as The Association for the Study of Internal Secretions. The official name of the organization was changed ...
stated that there is durable evidence for a biological underpinning to gender identity and that pubertal suppression, hormone therapy, and medically indicated surgery are effective and relatively safe when monitored appropriately and have been established as the standard of care. They noted a decrease in suicidal ideation among youth who have access to gender-affirming care and comparable levels of depression to cisgender peers among socially transitioned pre-pubertal youth. In its 2017 guideline on treating those with gender dysphoria, it recommends puberty blockers be started when the child has started puberty ( Tanner Stage 2 for breast or genital development) and cross-sex hormones be started at 16, though they note "there may be compelling reasons to initiate sex hormone treatment prior to the age of 16 years in some adolescents with GD/gender incongruence". They recommend a multidisciplinary team of medical and mental health professionals manage the treatment for those under 18. They also recommend "monitoring clinical pubertal development every 3 to 6 months and laboratory parameters every 6 to 12 months during sex hormone treatment". For adolescents, WPATH says that physical interventions such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgery may be appropriate. Before any physical interventions are initiated, however, a psychiatric assessment exploring the psychological, family, and social issues around the adolescent's gender dysphoria should be undertaken. Some medical professionals disagree that adolescents are cognitively mature enough to make a decision with regard to hormone therapy or surgery, and advise that irreversible genital procedures should not be performed on individuals under the age of legal consent in their respective country. WPATH's Standards of Care 8, published in 2022, declare puberty blocking medication as "medically necessary", and recommends them for usage in transgender adolescents once the patient has reached Tanner stage 2 of development, and state that longitudinal shows improved outcomes for transgender patients who receive them. While few studies have examined the effects of puberty blockers for
gender non-conforming Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...
or transgender adolescents, the studies that have been conducted generally indicate that these treatments are reasonably safe, are reversible, and can improve psychological well-being in these individuals. A 2020 review published in '' Child and Adolescent Mental Health'' found that puberty blockers are reversible and associated with such positive outcomes as decreased suicidality in adulthood, improved affect and psychological functioning, and improved social life. A 2020 survey published in ''
Pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...
'' found that puberty blockers are associated with better mental health outcomes and lower odds of lifetime suicidal ideation. A 2022 study published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association ''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of bio ...
found a 60% reduction in moderate and severe depression and a 73% reduction in suicidality among transgender youth aged 13–20 who took puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones over a 12-month follow-up. A 2022 study published in ''
The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'' involving 720 transgender adolescents who took puberty blockers and hormones found that 98 percent continued to use hormones at a follow up appointment. In 2020, a review article commissioned by
NHS England NHS England, officially the NHS Commissioning Board, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the ...
was published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, concluding that the quality of evidence for puberty blocker outcomes (for mental health, quality of life and impact on gender dysphoria) was of very low certainty based on the GRADE scale. The Finnish government commissioned a review of the research evidence for treatment of minors and the Finnish Ministry of Health concluded that there are no research-based health care methods for minors with gender dysphoria. Nevertheless, they recommend the use of puberty blockers for minors on a case-by-case basis, and the
American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C. Background The Academy was founded ...
state that "pubertal suppression in children who identify as TGD ransgender and gender diversegenerally leads to improved psychological functioning in adolescence and young adulthood." In 2022, the National Board of Health and Welfare in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
issued new guidelines recommending that puberty blockers only be given in "exceptional cases" and said that their use was grounded in "uncertain science." Instead, they recommended child psychiatric treatment, psychosocial interventions, and suicide prevention measures to be offered by clinicians. In the UK, '' Bell v Tavistock'' considered the case of a patient who had changed her mind, now believing she was too young to have made such a decision, and concluded "Where the decision is significant and life changing then there is a greater onus to ensure that the child understands and is able to weigh the information". Following the ruling,
NHS England NHS England, officially the NHS Commissioning Board, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the ...
announced that children under 16 would no longer be given puberty blockers without court authorization. This ruling was overturned on appeal in 2021, once again allowing children under 16 to consent to puberty blockers. Data from the Tavistock clinic found that children who were given puberty blockers were very likely to transition, with 43/44 (98%) of children who were given puberty blockers ultimately going on to take cross-sex hormones.


History

Past attempts at therapeutic intervention often included
conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...
, viewing gender non-conformity as a problem to be fixed rather than natural variation. In addition, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation were often conflated as problems to be corrected and replaced with the "correct" gendered behavior. Noting that many transgender and homosexual adults reported gender-nonconformity in childhood, clinicians at the time viewed early childhood intervention as a way to prevent a later LGBT identification. Notable proponents of the view that a trans "outcome" should be discouraged have included Richard Green, John Money,
George Rekers George Alan Rekers (born July 11, 1948) is an American psychologist and ordained Southern Baptist minister. He is emeritus professor of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Rekers has a ...
,
Ole Ivar Lovaas Ole Ivar Løvaas (8 May 1927 – 2 August 2010) was a Norwegian-American clinical psychologist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is most well known for his research on what is now called applied behavior analysi ...
, Kenneth Zucker and Susan Bradley. The introduction of the GIDC diagnosis into the DSM-III in 1980 was preceded by numerous US studies and treatments on feminine boys beginning as early as the 1950s and 1960s, most prominently by John Money and Richard Green at the
Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...
and the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
(UCLA). The prevention of transsexuality and / or homosexuality was explicitly stated as the goal of many of these studies: "My focus will be what we might consider the prevention of transsexualism." Bryant states that feminine boys were not a new phenomenon at this time; however, the public emergence of adult transsexual women (male to female) in the 1950s ''was'' new and created a number of problems for psychologists, motivating some to undertake efforts at preventing their further emergence. Meyerowitz chronicles the deep disagreements which erupted between psychologists and physicians after Christine Jorgensen's public gender transition, namely over whether transsexuals should be permitted to align their bodies with their inner identities or whether their inner identities must be brought in line with their bodies. At the time, transsexual women were beginning to publish first-person narratives which highlighted their awareness of their femininity at a young age and Bryant states that some clinicians and researchers thus turned their attention to feminine boys, constructing sissies as a new "medicalized patient and research population." In 1960, Green and Money published a paper titled "Incongruous Gender Role: Nongenital Manifestations in Prepubertal Boys," detailing their observations of 5 children
assigned male at birth Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of birt ...
(AMAB) who "showed incongruities in gender role", ranging from preferring to play with girls to praying God would change them into a girl. Citing that adult gay men and transgender women recollect gender incongruity in childhood, they later concluded early intervention is best in cases of gender incongruity and that "part of the successful rearing of a child is orienting him, from birth, to his biologically and culturally acceptable gender role. This, as far as we know, is best achieved by providing a relationship between husband and wife exemplifying these respective roles." In 1968, Green published "Childhood Cross-Gender Identification", a paper reviewing the therapy of nine AMAB children who were younger than 8 and "clearly prepubertal". The first six were from the collaborative papers between Green and Money, the last 3 were from
Robert Stoller Robert Jesse Stoller (December 15, 1924 – September 6, 1991), was an American Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA Medical School and a researcher at the UCLA Gender Identity Clinic. He was born in Crestwood, Yonkers, New York, Crestwood, New York, ...
. Citing the failure of attempts to "cure" adult trans women, he reported early diagnosis and treatment may be effective in preventing manifestations of adulthood cross-gender identification. The stated goals of family therapy are for "for the husband and wife to gain some perspective on the second class citizen of the husband and of the significance of their unbalanced roles in shaping their son's personality. Additional focus is on the masculinity-inhibiting of mother's anxiety over her son's healthy aggression and her greater comfort with what to her is his less threatening behavior." Another early researcher was George Alan Rekers, who later became an administrator at
NARTH The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), also known as the NARTH Institute, is a US organization that promotes conversion therapy, a pseudoscientific practice used in attempts to change the sexual orientation of pe ...
, who focused his 1972 doctoral research on the treatment of feminine boys. In this work, Rekers describes a litany of feminine behaviours which he catalogues including: feminine posture, gait, arm and hand gestures, feminine inflection in speech, as well as interest in feminine clothing, games and conversation topics. Using classical
behaviour modification Behavior modification is an early approach that used respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior. Based on methodological behaviorism, overt behavior was modified with consequences, including positive and negative reinforcement continge ...
techniques he and a team of research assistants set about extinguishing 'problem' feminine behaviours in three boys in particular, enlisting the help of parents and occasionally teachers to provide rewards and punishments corresponding to behaviours identified as wanted or unwanted. Rekers' dissertation describes in detail, the case of Kraig (a pseudonym for Kirk Andrew Murphy) whose mother was instructed over earphones to alternately praise or ignore him depending on whether he played with a table of toys deemed to be feminine (typically dolls) or masculine (typically weapons). She was also trained to monitor his behaviour at home, with research assistants visiting weekly to ensure she was correctly completing her four times daily observations of Kraig's gendered behaviour. Physical punishment from Kraig's father is named as one of the primary consequences for feminine behaviour at home. Throughout Rekers's future work, he cites his treatments with Kraig as a success, claiming that "Kraig's feminine behaviours have apparently ceased entirely €¦" In 1974, Rekers and
Ole Ivar Lovaas Ole Ivar Løvaas (8 May 1927 – 2 August 2010) was a Norwegian-American clinical psychologist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is most well known for his research on what is now called applied behavior analysi ...
published the article "Behavioral Treatment of Deviant Sex-Role Behaviors in a Male Child." The article cited Green and Money as a source of the "growing evidence that childhood cross-gender manifestations are indicative of later adult sexual abnormalities; e.g., transvestism, transsexualism, or some forms of homosexuality." It noted that many transgender women and gay men reported their "cross-gender behaviors began in early childhood" and the research showed it was difficult or impossible to shift in adults; the authors felt the best way to prevent "future sexual deviance", or at least make it unlikely as possible, was to correct gender noncomforming behavior at a young age. The method the paper detailed was a token based reinforcement system administered by the parents which rewarded gender conformity and punished deviancy. Blue chips were a sign of good behavior and could be swapped for chocolate bars, red chips were a sign of bad behavior and resulted in isolation and beatings. In contrast to this, a number of facts about Kraig have become public information, including: that he was a gay man; that according to his family, he never recovered from these treatments; and that in 2003, at the age of 38, he committed suicide. Even without confirmed knowledge of such outcomes, by the mid-1970s Rekers's publications on his treatment modality were already attracting harsh criticism from scholarly and popular media sources, and Bryant speculates that this is one possible explanation for why many clinicians do not publish on their treatment techniques, focusing instead on less controversial aspects of GD, such as diagnostic criteria. Therapeutic approaches for GD differ from those used on adults and have included
behavior therapy Behaviour therapy or behavioural psychotherapy is a broad term referring to clinical psychotherapy that uses techniques derived from behaviourism and/or cognitive psychology. It looks at specific, learned behaviours and how the environment, or oth ...
,
psychodynamic therapy Psychodynamics, also known as psychodynamic psychology, in its broadest sense, is an approach to psychology that emphasizes systematic study of the psychological forces underlying human behavior, feelings, and emotions and how they might relate t ...
,
group therapy Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. The term can legitimately refer to any form of psychotherapy when delivered in a group format, i ...
, and parent counseling. This includes aiming to reduce gender dysphoria, making children more comfortable with their bodies, lessening ostracism, and reducing the child's psychiatric
comorbidity In medicine, comorbidity - from Latin morbus ("sickness"), co ("together"), -ity (as if - several sicknesses together) - is the presence of one or more additional conditions often wikt:co-occur#Verb, co-occurring (that is, wikt:concomitant#Adjecti ...
. Therapeutic intervention seeks to identify and resolve underlying factors (including familial factors), encourage the child to identify with their assigned sex, and encourage same-sex friendships.Zucker, Ken J. (2002). Gender Identity Disorder. In Michael Rutter, Eric A. Taylor (Eds). Child and adolescent psychiatry: modern approaches.
Blackwell Publishing Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publish ...
.
Parent counseling involves setting limits on the child's cross-gender behavior, encouraging gender-neutral or sex-typical activities, examining familial factors, and examining parental factors such as
psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of abnormal cognition, behaviour, and experiences which differs according to social norms and rests upon a number of constructs that are deemed to be the social norm at any particular era. Biological psychopatholo ...
. Researchers Zucker and Susan Bradley state that it has been found that boys with GD often have mothers who, to an extent, reinforced behavior more stereotypical of young girls. They also state that children with GD tend to come from families where cross-
gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...
behavior was not explicitly discouraged. However, they also acknowledge that one could view these findings as merely indicative of the fact that parents who were more accepting of their child's cross-gender role behavior are also more likely to bring their children to a clinical psychiatrist as opposed to parents who are less accepting of cross-gender role behavior in their children. In 2002, Zucker acknowledged limited data on gender dysphoria in children, stating that "apart from a series of intrasubject behaviour therapy case reports from the 1970s, one will find not a single randomized controlled treatment trial in the literature". He has stated that "the therapist must rely on the 'clinical wisdom' that has accumulated and to utilize largely untested case formulation conceptual models to inform treatment approaches and decisions." In 2018, in a narrative systemic review titled "Conversion therapies and access to transition-related healthcare in transgender people", Zucker's work was provided as a case study in conversion therapy including open-ended play psychotherapy, parent counselling, and parent-guided interventions to prevent "transsexualism". The study was criticized by the reviewers for relying on flawed estimates of desistance as well as actively trying to reduce cross-gender identification. In 2015, the
American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration collaborated on a report stating "conversion therapy—efforts to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression—is a practice that is not supported by credible evidence and has been disavowed by behavioral health experts and associations. Conversion therapy perpetuates outdated views of gender roles and identities as well as the negative stereotype that being a sexual or gender minority or identifying as LGBTQ is an abnormal aspect of human development. Most importantly, it may put young people at risk of serious harm." Already by 2017, the majority of major medical associations had defined attempts to change an individual's gender identity or gender expression as
conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...
. In 2021, the
World Professional Association for Transgender Health The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA), is a professional organization devoted to the understanding and treatment of gender identity and g ...
concluded that treatment aimed at trying to change a person's gender identity and expression to become more congruent with sex assigned at birth "is no longer considered ethical." Edgardo Menvielle, a child-adolescent psychiatrist at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington advised that "Therapists who advocate changing gender variant behaviours should be avoided." Developmental and clinical psychologist Diane Ehrensaft told the '' Psychiatric Times'', "The mental health profession has been consistently doing harm to children who are not 'gender normal,' and they need to retrain."


Society and culture


Diagnostic dispute

Pickstone-Taylor has called Zucker and Bradley's therapeutic intervention "something disturbingly close to
reparative therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and clin ...
for homosexuals." Other academics, such as Maddux ''et al.'', have also compared it to such therapy. They argue that the goal is preventing a transgender identity because reparative therapy is believed to reduce the chances of adult GD, "which Zucker and Bradley characterize as undesirable." Author Phyllis Burke wrote, "The diagnosis of GID in children, as supported by Zucker and Bradley, is simply child abuse." Zucker dismisses Burke's book as "simplistic" and "not particularly illuminating;" and journalist Stephanie Wilkinson said Zucker characterized Burke's book as "the work of a journalist whose views shouldn't be put into the same camp as those of scientists like Richard Green or himself." Critics argue that the GIDC diagnosis was a backdoor maneuver to replace homosexuality in the DSM; Zucker and Robert Spitzer counter that the GIDC inclusion was based on "expert consensus," which is "the same mechanism that led to the introduction of many new psychiatric diagnoses, including those for which systematic field trials were not available when the DSM-III was published." Katherine Wilson of GID Reform Advocates stated:
In the case of gender non-conforming children and adolescents, the GID criteria are significantly broader in scope in the DSM-IV (APA, 1994, p. 537) than in earlier revisions, to the concern of many civil libertarians. A child may be diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder without ever having stated any desire to be, or insistence of being, the other sex. Boys are inexplicably held to a much stricter standard of conformity than girls. Most psychologists who specialize in gender identity disorder in children note a higher level of male patients brought to them, rather than female patients. A possible explanation would be that cross-sex behavior is less acceptable and therefore more noticeable and more likely to be viewed as problematic by the child's parents (Bradley, Zucker, 1997). Preference for cross-dressing or simulating female attire meets the diagnostic criterion for boys but not for girls, who must insist on wearing only male clothing to merit diagnosis. References to "stereotypical" clothing, toys and activities of the other sex are imprecise in an American culture where much children's clothing is unisex and appropriate sex role is the subject of political debate. Equally puzzling is a criterion which lists a "strong preference for playmates of the other sex" as symptomatic, and seems to equate mental health with sexual discrimination and segregation.
Some clinicians, such as Wilson ''et al.'', argue that GIDC "has served to pressurize boys to conform to traditional gender and heterosexual roles." Feder states that the diagnosis is based on the reactions of others to the child, not the behavior itself. Langer ''et al.'' state "Gender atypicality is a social construction that varies over time according to culture and social class and therefore should not be pathologized." Zucker refuted their claims in a response. Psychiatrist Domenico Di Ceglie opined that for therapeutic intervention, "
efficacy Efficacy is the ability to perform a task to a satisfactory or expected degree. The word comes from the same roots as ''effectiveness'', and it has often been used synonymously, although in pharmacology a pragmatic clinical trial#Efficacy versu ...
is unclear," and psychologist Bernadette Wren says, "There is little evidence, however, that any psychological treatments have much effect in changing gender identity although some treatment centres continue to promote this as an aim (e.g. Zucker, & Bradley, 1995)." Therapeutic intervention for GIDC came under renewed scrutiny in May 2008, when Kenneth Zucker was appointed to the DSM-5 committee on GIDC. According to
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
, "The petition accuses Zucker of having engaged in ' junk science' and promoting 'hurtful theories' during his career." Zucker is accused by
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
activists of promoting "gender-conforming therapies in children"Szymanski, Zak (3 July 2008)
Trans March rallies around inclusion.
''Bay Area Reporter''
and "treating children with GID with an eye toward preventing adult homosexuality or transsexuality." Zucker "rejects the junk-science charge, saying that there 'has to be an empirical basis to modify anything' in the DSM. As for hurting people, 'in my own career, my primary motivation in working with children, adolescents and families is to help them with the distress and suffering they are experiencing, whatever the reasons they are having these struggles. I want to help people feel better about themselves, not hurt them.'" However, opponents continue to argue that the diagnosis "harms the very children it purports to help". The DSM-5 change to "gender dysphoria" was endorsed by transgender activists and allies as a way to lessen stigma but maintain a diagnostic route to trans-specific medical care. However, Lev states that the diagnosis of gender dysphoria continues to pathologize transgender experiences.


Current views

Referencing contemporary Western views on gender diversity, psychologist Diane Ehrensaft stated: "I am witnessing a shake-up in the mental health community as training sessions, workshops and conferences are proliferating all over this country and around the world, demanding that we reevaluate the binary system of gender, throw out the idea that gender nonconformity is a disorder, and establish new guidelines for facilitating the healthy development of gender-creative children." Child-adolescent psychiatrist Edgardo Menvielle and psychotherapist Catherine Tuerck offer a support group for parents of gender non-conforming children at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington D.C., aimed "not at changing children's behaviours but at helping parents to be supportive". Other publications began to call for a similar approach, to support parents to help their child become their authentic self. Community organizations established to support these families have begun to develop, all with the goal of supporting healthy families with gender non conforming or transgender children. Popular media accounts of parents assisting their children to live in their felt gender role have also emerged. Menvielle maintains that "the therapist should focus on helping the child and family cope with intolerance and social prejudice, not on the child's behaviours, interests or choice of playmates". A host of additional terms have been applied to these children, including ''gender variant'', ''gender non-conforming'', and ''gender-creative''.


See also

* Childhood gender nonconformity *
Transgender youth Transgender youth are children or adolescents who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Because transgender youth are usually dependent on their parents for care, shelter, financial support, and other needs, transgender yo ...
* List of transgender-related topics


References


External links


Gender Dysphoria and Transsexualism
via Merck Manual
More Children Seek Help for Gender Dysphoria
via WebMD.com
Health Effects Of Transitioning In Teen Years Remain Unknown
via NPR
When Transgender Kids Transition, Medical Risks are Both Known and Unknown
via Frontline PBS
Parents of transgender children are faced with a difficult decision
via NYMag.com
The boy who was raised a girl
via BBC
Led by the child who simply knew The twin boys were identical in every way but one.
via Boston.com
A nonprofit program serving transgender and gender-variant youth and their families.
via Camp Aranutiq

via ''The New York Times''
First U.S. Study of Transgender Youth Funded by NIH
via University of California, San Francisco
Where Transgender Is No Longer a Diagnosis
via ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
'' {{Authority control Gender identity Mental disorders diagnosed in childhood Transgender and medicine