{"id":71520,"date":"2016-02-28T13:08:12","date_gmt":"2016-02-28T18:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=71520"},"modified":"2016-02-28T13:08:12","modified_gmt":"2016-02-28T18:08:12","slug":"study-transgender-children-allowed-to-live-openly-fare-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/02\/28\/study-transgender-children-allowed-to-live-openly-fare-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Study: Transgender children allowed to live openly fare well"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Toronto<\/a>
Toronto Gay Pride Parade in 2008 (FIle Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CHICAGO \u2013 Young transgender children allowed to live openly as the gender they identify with fared as well psychologically as other kids in a small study that suggests parental support may be the key.<\/p>\n

Rates of depression and anxiety were equal in the study, which compared 73 transgender kids aged 3 to 12 with 73 nontransgender youngsters. The trans kids also fared as well on both measures as a group of their nontransgender siblings.<\/p>\n

Rates of anxiety among trans kids were \u201ca smidge higher\u201d than national averages for children of the same age, but otherwise they matched national norms, said lead author Kristina Olson, an associate psychology professor at the University of Washington.<\/p>\n

She said it\u2019s the largest study to examine the psychological health of transgender youth who have socially transitioned. Parents recruited from support groups, conferences and a special website rated their kids\u2019 well-being on a standard mental health scale.<\/p>\n

The parents weren\u2019t randomly selected and Olson acknowledged that parents of kids who aren’t well-adjusted may have opted not to take part.<\/p>\n

The study \u201ccertainly suggests that family support is linked to better mental health,\u201d although that idea wasn\u2019t tested directly and Olson said the results don\u2019t prove that is the explanation for the children\u2019s well-being.<\/p>\n

The results were published Friday in the journal Pediatrics.<\/p>\n

The findings are \u201ctruly stunning,\u201d given previous studies showing high rates of mental health problems including suicidal behaviour in transgender children, Dr. Ilana Sherer, a Dublin, California, pediatrician, wrote in a Pediatrics editorial. Most previous research is in children who haven\u2019t come out, Olson said.<\/p>\n

Study children had not had any sex reassignment treatment, and some parents initially opposed letting their kids come out.<\/p>\n

Micah Heumann, an academic adviser at the University of Illinois\u2019s Champaign campus, was among study participants.<\/p>\n

His 10-year-old child, Daniel, was born a girl and named Naima, but has identified as a boy ever since he knew about gender, Heumann said.<\/p>\n

In second grade, the family agreed to let Daniel legally change his name and at the boy\u2019s request, his school agreed to go along with the change, even letting Daniel use the boy\u2019s bathroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is very well-adjusted\u201d but still feels stress because he knows not everyone is so accepting, Heumann said.<\/p>\n

Daniel \u201cwas very anxious before coming out at school,\u201d but refused the option of keeping the secret, Heumann recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looked at me and said, \u2018Dad, I can\u2019t. It\u2019s harder to live a lie and not as I am truly than to deal with this anxiety right now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Heumann said the family reacted to Daniel\u2019s choice with mixed feelings, mourning the loss of a daughter but never wavering in love and support for Daniel.<\/p>\n

Olson, the study author, said the results don\u2019t apply to all transgender kids, especially those whose parents oppose their change in identity.<\/p>\n

Opponents of allowing these youngsters to adopt names, hairstyles, clothes and pronouns opposite their birth gender have argued that kids so young \u201ccannot possibly know their gender at such an early age,\u201d said Sherer, the editorial writer.<\/p>\n

Letting these kids live openly as the gender they identify with \u201ccan be an incredibly affirming process,\u201d Sherer said, \u201cshowing the child that their identity is supported.\u201d She was not involved in the research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO \u2013 Young transgender children allowed to live openly as the gender they identify with fared as well psychologically as …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":17486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1080],"class_list":["post-71520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lifestyle","tag-ap","mauthors-lindsey-tanner","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}