Department of Adolescent Medicine, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Australia.
Clinical Sciences Theme, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Australia.
JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Jul 1;3(7):e2011161. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.11161.
Specialist gender clinics worldwide have witnessed an increase in referrals of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) children and adolescents, but the underlying factors associated with this increase are unknown.
To determine whether increases in TGD young people presenting to specialist gender clinics are associated with related media coverage.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at 2 publicly funded, pediatric specialist gender services, one located in the UK and the other in Australia. Participants were all children and adolescents aged 0 to 18 years, referred between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2016, to their respective gender services in the UK and Australia. Data analysis was performed in April 2019.
Media coverage of TGD issues.
Referral rates from each gender service were compared with local TGD-related media coverage during the study period.
Referral data for 5242 TGD young people were obtained (4684 in the UK, of whom 1847 [39.4%] were assigned male at birth and 2837 [60.6%] were assigned female at birth; 558 in Australia, of whom 250 [44.8%] were assigned male at birth and 308 [55.2%] were assigned female at birth), and a total of 2614 news items were identified (UK, 2194; Australia, 420). The annual number of TGD young people referred to both specialist gender clinics was positively correlated with the number of TGD-related local media stories appearing each year (Spearman r = 1.0; P < .001). Moreover, weekly referral rates in both the UK for week 1 (β̂ = 0.16; 95% CI, 0.03-0.29; P = .01) and Australia for week 2 (β̂ = 0.12; 95% CI, 0.04-0.20; P = .003) showed evidence of association with the number of TGD-related media items appearing within the local media. There was no evidence of association between referrals and media items appearing 3 weeks beforehand. Media predominantly focused on TGD issues showed some association with increased referral rates. Specifically, TGD-focused stories showed evidence of association with referral numbers at week 1 (β̂ = 0.16; 95% CI, 0.04-0.28; P = .007) and week 2 (β̂ = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.11-0.35; P < .001) in Australia and with referral numbers at week 1 (β̂ = 0.22; 95% CI, 0.01-0.44; P = .04) in the UK. No evidence of association was found between media peripherally related to TGD issues and referral rates.
This study found evidence of an association between increasing media coverage of TGD-related topics and increasing numbers of young people presenting to gender clinics. It is possible that media coverage acts as a precipitant for young people to seek treatment at specialist gender services, which is consistent with clinical experiences in which TGD young people commonly identify the media as a helpful source of information and a trigger to seek assistance.
世界各地的专业性别诊所都见证了跨性别和性别多样化（TGD）儿童和青少年转诊人数的增加，但与之相关的增加的根本因素尚不清楚。
确定向专业性别诊所就诊的 TGD 年轻人的增加是否与相关媒体报道有关。
设计、地点和参与者：这项横断面研究在英国和澳大利亚的两个公共资助的儿科专业性别服务机构进行。参与者均为 0 至 18 岁的儿童和青少年，他们分别在 2009 年 1 月 1 日至 2016 年 12 月 31 日期间在英国和澳大利亚的各自性别服务机构接受转介。数据分析于 2019 年 4 月进行。
TGD 问题的媒体报道。
比较了研究期间每个性别服务机构的转诊率与当地 TGD 相关媒体报道。
共获得 5242 名 TGD 年轻人的转诊数据（英国 4684 人，其中 1847 人（39.4%）出生时被分配为男性，2837 人（60.6%）出生时被分配为女性；澳大利亚 558 人，其中 250 人（44.8%）出生时被分配为男性，308 人（55.2%）出生时被分配为女性），并确定了 2614 条新闻报道（英国 2194 条；澳大利亚 420 条）。每年向两家专业性别诊所转诊的 TGD 年轻人数量与每年出现的 TGD 相关当地媒体报道数量呈正相关（Spearman r = 1.0；P <.001）。此外，英国第一周（β̂ = 0.16；95%CI，0.03-0.29；P =.01）和澳大利亚第二周（β̂ = 0.12；95%CI，0.04-0.20；P =.003）每周转诊率均显示与当地媒体中出现的 TGD 相关媒体项目数量存在关联。没有证据表明转诊与 3 周前出现的媒体项目之间存在关联。主要关注 TGD 问题的媒体与增加的转诊率有一定关联。具体而言，TGD 重点报道显示出与澳大利亚第 1 周（β̂ = 0.16；95%CI，0.04-0.28；P =.007）和第 2 周（β̂ = 0.23；95%CI，0.11-0.35；P <.001）以及英国第 1 周（β̂ = 0.22；95%CI，0.01-0.44；P =.04）转诊人数存在关联。没有证据表明与 TGD 相关问题的媒体与转诊率之间存在关联。
这项研究发现，TGD 相关主题的媒体报道增加与向性别诊所就诊的年轻人数量增加之间存在关联。媒体报道可能是年轻人寻求专业性别服务治疗的一个促成因素，这与临床经验一致，即 TGD 年轻人通常将媒体视为有帮助的信息来源和寻求帮助的触发因素。
