Autism Clinic for Translational Research, Brain and Mind Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; Children's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia.
Children's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; Department of Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Australia; Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
J Psychiatr Res. 2022 May;149:281-286. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.02.018. Epub 2022 Feb 22.
Gender dysphoria, characterised by distress associated with an incongruence between an individual's assigned and experienced gender, is encountered in 1%-2% of children and adolescents. Recent findings suggest neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including Autism, are frequently reported among youth with Gender Dysphoria. This study aims to explore the frequency of NDDs in children and adolescents presenting to a hospital-based gender service, and to investigate the contribution of autistic traits and general psychological distress to distress pertaining to gender. Sixty-four participants (mean age = 12.91 years) with Gender Dysphoria were recruited to this study. Self- and caregiver-report questionnaires were used to evaluate psychological distress, autistic traits, and distress pertaining to gender. Relative to the rest of the participants, the 13 (20.31%) with a co-occurring NDD diagnosis reported elevated autistic traits (p < .001). They did not differ in terms of psychological distress or distress pertaining to gender. A hierarchical linear regression revealed autistic traits alone did not contribute to the variability in distress pertaining to gender, whereas general psychological distress accounted for 9.9% of the variability in distress pertaining to gender (p = .012). The current findings indicate that NDD diagnoses are common in children and adolescents with Gender Dysphoria who attend hospital-based services. Psychological distress, rather than autistic traits, contributes more variability in distress pertaining to gender. Taken together, these findings indicate the need to consider NDDs in treatment plans but also to focus on the important relationship between psychological distress and Gender Dysphoria.
性别焦虑症，其特征是个体的性别认同与实际性别之间存在不一致，导致个体感到痛苦，这种情况在 1%-2%的儿童和青少年中出现。最近的研究结果表明，神经发育障碍（NDDs），包括自闭症，在患有性别焦虑症的青少年中经常被报告。本研究旨在探讨在医院性别服务机构就诊的儿童和青少年中 NDD 的发生率，并研究自闭症特征和一般心理困扰对与性别相关的痛苦的贡献。本研究招募了 64 名（平均年龄 12.91 岁）患有性别焦虑症的参与者。使用自我报告和照顾者报告的问卷来评估心理困扰、自闭症特征和与性别相关的痛苦。与其他参与者相比，有共病 NDD 诊断的 13 名（20.31%）参与者的自闭症特征评分较高（p<0.001）。他们在心理困扰或与性别相关的痛苦方面没有差异。分层线性回归显示，自闭症特征本身并不能解释与性别相关的痛苦的变异性，而一般心理困扰则解释了 9.9%的与性别相关的痛苦的变异性（p=0.012）。目前的研究结果表明，在接受医院为基础的服务的患有性别焦虑症的儿童和青少年中，NDD 诊断很常见。心理困扰而不是自闭症特征，对与性别相关的痛苦的变异性贡献更大。总的来说，这些发现表明，在治疗计划中需要考虑 NDD，但也需要关注心理困扰与性别焦虑症之间的重要关系。
