Schumm Walter R, Crawford Duane W
Applied Family Science Unit, School of Family Studies and Human Services, College of Human Ecology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Linacre Q. 2020 Feb;87(1):9-24. doi: 10.1177/0024363919884799. Epub 2019 Nov 11.
Recent research on transgender children who have had support from their parents for their transitioning has concluded that their mental health is virtually no different than that of nontransgender children. Such research has been extensively cited, over 370 times in the past three years. Most of the hundreds of reviews received the stated results of the studies with little caution. However, the research featured numerous statistical errors and omissions, the implications of which would likely lead neutral observers to conclude that the mental health of transgender children, even when supported by their parents, was poorer than that of the groups of control children. In particular, levels of anxiety as reported by both parents and their transgender children appear to be significantly higher, and the transgender children's reports of self-worth appear to be significantly lower. Although reports regarding depression are not as significantly different, the effect sizes were generally in a similar direction as the other outcomes, being less favorable for the transgender children. Such issues highlight the need for careful examination of statistical research, even when published in highly regarded medical journals. As with other research, findings from the early stages of controversial research may often be premature. Further research is needed to explore factors underlying these results.
Some scholars have believed that if transgender children were supported by their parents before the children reached puberty, the generally higher rates of mental illness experienced by many transgender persons might be prevented or alleviated. Dr. Kristina Olson of the Department of Psychology at the University of Seattle was the first scholar to have studied groups of transgender children who were being supported by their parents and to have compared them to a control group of children and to siblings of the same transgender children. Her conclusion was that there were minimal, if any, differences in anxiety, depression, and self-worth among the groups of children; her research has since been cited extensively as having found just that. We reanalyzed her raw data and found that, to the contrary, the transgender children, even when supported by their parents, had significantly lower average scores on anxiety and self-worth. Often, a significantly higher percentage of transgender children, compared to controls, featured preclinical or clinical levels of anxiety. Parental support of transgender children may temporarily reduce levels of poor mental health for some transgender children, but it does not appear to eliminate those problems for all transgender children. Our findings should serve as a warning against accepting research at a surface level, which can lead to acceptance of invalid information and pursuit of ineffective interventions.
最近对那些在性别转变过程中得到父母支持的跨性别儿童的研究得出结论，他们的心理健康状况与非跨性别儿童几乎没有差别。这类研究被广泛引用，在过去三年里被引用超过370次。数百篇综述中的大多数都几乎没有谨慎地对待这些研究的既定结果。然而，该研究存在大量统计错误和疏漏，其影响可能会使中立的观察者得出结论，即跨性别儿童的心理健康状况，即使在得到父母支持的情况下，也比对照组儿童的心理健康状况更差。特别是，父母及其跨性别子女报告的焦虑水平似乎显著更高，而跨性别子女报告的自我价值感似乎显著更低。尽管关于抑郁的报告差异不那么显著，但效应大小通常与其他结果的方向相似，对跨性别儿童不利。这些问题凸显了仔细审查统计研究的必要性，即使这些研究发表在备受推崇的医学期刊上。与其他研究一样，有争议研究早期阶段的结果往往可能为时过早。需要进一步研究以探索这些结果背后的因素。
一些学者认为，如果跨性别儿童在青春期前得到父母的支持，许多跨性别者普遍较高的精神疾病发病率可能会得到预防或缓解。西雅图大学心理学系的克里斯蒂娜·奥尔森博士是第一位研究得到父母支持的跨性别儿童群体，并将他们与对照组儿童以及同一跨性别儿童的兄弟姐妹进行比较的学者。她的结论是，这些儿童群体在焦虑、抑郁和自我价值感方面几乎没有差异（如果有差异的话）；从那以后，她的研究被广泛引用，称正是发现了这一点。我们重新分析了她的原始数据，结果却发现，相反地，跨性别儿童即使在得到父母支持的情况下，在焦虑和自我价值感方面的平均得分也显著更低。通常情况下，与对照组相比，有显著更高比例的跨性别儿童存在临床前或临床水平的焦虑。父母对跨性别儿童的支持可能会暂时降低一些跨性别儿童的心理健康不良水平，但似乎并不能消除所有跨性别儿童的这些问题。我们的研究结果应作为一个警示，提醒人们不要表面地接受研究，因为这可能导致接受无效信息并追求无效的干预措施。
