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Gender non-conformity in childhood and adolescence and mental health through to adulthood: a longitudinal cohort study, 1995–2018

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2023

Simone Mahfouda ,
Murray Maybery Open the ORCID record for Murray Maybery [Opens in a new window] ,
Julia Moore Open the ORCID record for Julia Moore [Opens in a new window] ,
Yael Perry Open the ORCID record for Yael Perry [Opens in a new window] ,
Penelope Strauss Open the ORCID record for Penelope Strauss [Opens in a new window] ,
Florian Zepf  and
Ashleigh Lin
Simone Mahfouda*
Affiliation:
Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Australia
Murray Maybery
Affiliation:
University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Julia Moore
Affiliation:
Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, Australia
Yael Perry
Affiliation:
Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Australia
Penelope Strauss
Affiliation:
Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Australia
Florian Zepf
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany German Center for Mental Health (DZPG) Center for Intervention and Research on adaptive and maladaptive brain Circuits underlying mental health (C-I-R-C), Jena-Magdeburg-Halle, Germany
Ashleigh Lin
Affiliation:
Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Australia
*
Corresponding author: Simone Mahfouda; Email: simone.mahfouda@telethonkids.org.au
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Abstract

Background

Few studies have examined associations between gender non-conformity (GNC) in childhood or adolescence and mental health outcomes later in life. This study examined associations between (1) GNC and mental health over multiple time points in childhood and adolescence, and (2) GNC in childhood and/or adolescence and mental health in adulthood.

Method

Second generation participants from the Raine Study, a longitudinal cohort from Perth, Western Australia. Data were collected between 1995 and 2018, comprising seven waves: ages 5 (N = 2236), 8 (N = 2140), 10 (N = 2048), 14 (N = 1864), 17 (N = 1726), 22 (N = 1236) and 27 (N = 1190) years. History of GNC, v. absence of this history, was based on responses to item 110 from the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL)/Youth Self Report (YSR) (‘wishes to be of opposite sex’). The CBCL/YSR were used to measure internalising and externalising symptoms. Items 18 (‘deliberate self-harm [DSH] or attempts suicide’) and 91 (‘talks/thinks about killing self’) were used as measures of suicidal ideation (SI) and DSH. For adults, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Subscales and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale assessed mental health.

Results

Child and adolescent GNC was associated with elevated internalising and externalising behaviours and increased odds of DSH. A history of GNC was also associated with vulnerability for severe psychological distress in adulthood in some symptom scales.

Conclusion

GNC over the child and adolescent period is associated with significant emotional and behavioural difficulties, and psychological distress. A history of GNC in childhood and/or adolescence also predicts poorer mental health in adulthood on multiple symptom domains.

Keywords

Gender non-conforminglongitudinalmental healththe Raine Studytrans
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 53 , Issue 16 , December 2023 , pp. 7756 - 7765
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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