Trans youth are significantly more likely to attempt suicide when gender dysphoria is met with conversion therapy than with hormone treatment
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Monday, July 31, 2023
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To establish whether something causes an outcome, researchers typically rely on randomized control trials – experiments that randomly assign people to a treatment or a placebo.
Key Points:
- To establish whether something causes an outcome, researchers typically rely on randomized control trials – experiments that randomly assign people to a treatment or a placebo.
- Studies using this approach have linked hormone therapy with positive mental health outcomes for trans teens.
- However, because this treatment requires parental approval, teens who receive hormone therapy may have more supportive families than those who do not.
- We found that supportive family environments and hormone replacement therapy that affirms a transgender child’s gender identity decrease their risk of suicide or running away from home, whereas unsupportive family environments and conversion therapy that denies their gender identity increase these risks.
Treating gender dysphoria
- Many transgender people experience gender dysphoria, which is psychological distress arising from a mismatch between how a person expresses their gender identity and the social norms of their sex assigned at birth.
- To treat gender dysphoria, health professionals typically use gender-affirming interventions such as hormone therapy to align gender expression with identity.
- Gender affirmation includes processes that help a person feel socially and physically aligned with their gender identity.
- Research has shown that these forms of gender affirmation may alleviate gender dysphoria.
Effects of gender affirmation or denial
- So what are the effects of affirming or denying a child’s gender identity?
- Our research on the effects of conversion therapy on the mental health of transgender youths had dismal findings.
- We also analyzed the effects of social transitions on risk of attempting suicide or running away from home.
- These social transitions include realizing their gender differed from their sex assigned at birth, self-identification as trans, starting to tell others they are trans, and living full time as their gender identity.
Public policy and transgender well-being
- This was prompted by the more than 560 anti-transgender bills that have been introduced in the U.S. through July 2023, 80 of which have passed.
- More anti-trans bills have been on the docket in 2023 than any prior year in U.S. history.
- Our research suggests that policies restricting access to gender-affirming care and limiting protections against conversion therapy will have significant negative effects on the lives of transgender youths.
- The Trans Lifeline (1-877-565-8860) and The Trevor Project (phone 1-866-488-7386, text 678-678, or chat thetrevorproject.org also offer crisis support.