A groundbreaking new study finding that children’s gender confusion decreases with age could have implications for the ongoing debate over gender dysphoria among minors in the United States.Netherlands studyThe paper, published in the latest edition of the Archives of Sexual Behavior, followed a group of 2,772 teens over 15 years and found that most of them were dysphoric about their gender at age 11. I discovered that by the age of 26, I no longer had those feelings.
In their early teens, 11% of participants reported being dissatisfied with their gender and answered affirmatively when asked if they would “like to be the opposite sex.” However, by age 26, only 4% of the same group said they were not satisfied with their gender. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
“Prevalence decreased with age,” the authors wrote. “…gender dissatisfaction is relatively common in early adolescence, but generally declines with age and appears to be associated with poorer self-concept and mental health throughout development.”
The authors note that a major strength of this study was that it followed the same group of teens, “which allowed us to model the developmental trajectory of gender dissatisfaction from late childhood to early adulthood. “It has said.
“Furthermore, while this study was conducted in a combination of general population and clinical samples, most previous studies have reported on gender dissatisfaction in samples of adolescents clinically referred for gender identity issues. “and in many cases only one follow-up was included,” the authors wrote. “Our study therefore provides more reliable epidemiological knowledge about the prevalence of gender dissatisfaction among adolescents in the general population in the Netherlands and provides new insights into its association with mental health problems.”
Girls are more likely than boys to report being dissatisfied with their gender at ages 13 and 16, the study found. “The majority of adolescents (78%) said they had never experienced gender dissatisfaction,” the study states. said Mary Rice Hasson, director of the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Person and Identity Project. catholic news agency Too many parents and counselors pressure minors to change their gender.
“Unfortunately, what our children don’t have today is time. It gives me peace of mind that I will be able to live my life as I please,” Hasson said. “Instead, gender clinicians and counselors convince parents that their children are in crisis and need puberty blockers or other hormone therapy. That’s not true. What they need is reassurance and time to mature.”
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Michael Faust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His story was published in Baptist Press. Christianity Today, Christian Poecent, of leaf chronicle, of toronto star and of knoxville news sentinel.
