Parents of ROGD Kids, New York, NY, USA.
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
Arch Sex Behav. 2023 Apr;52(3):1031-1043. doi: 10.1007/s10508-023-02576-9. Epub 2023 Mar 29.
During the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in adolescents and young adults (AYA) complaining of gender dysphoria. One influential if controversial explanation is that the increase reflects a socially contagious syndrome: Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD). We report results from a survey of parents who contacted the website ParentsofROGDKids.com because they believed their AYA children had ROGD. Results focused on 1655 AYA children whose gender dysphoria reportedly began between ages 11 and 21 years, inclusive. These youths were disproportionately (75%) natal female. Natal males had later onset (by 1.9 years) than females, and they were much less likely to have taken steps toward social gender transition (65.7% for females versus 28.6% for males). Pre-existing mental health issues were common, and youths with these issues were more likely than those without them to have socially and medically transitioned. Parents reported that they had often felt pressured by clinicians to affirm their AYA child's new gender and support their transition. According to the parents, AYA children's mental health deteriorated considerably after social transition. We discuss potential biases of survey responses from this sample and conclude that there is presently no reason to believe that reports of parents who support gender transition are more accurate than those who oppose transition. To resolve controversies regarding ROGD, it is desirable that future research includes data provided by both pro- and anti-transition parents, as well as their gender dysphoric AYA children.
在过去的十年中,越来越多的青少年和年轻人(AYA)抱怨性别焦虑。一个有影响力但有争议的解释是,这种增加反映了一种具有传染性的社会综合征:快速发作的性别焦虑症(ROGD)。我们报告了一项针对父母的调查结果,这些父母曾联系过 ParentsofROGDKids.com 网站,因为他们认为自己的 AYA 孩子患有 ROGD。结果主要集中在 1655 名 AYA 儿童身上,他们的性别焦虑据称始于 11 至 21 岁之间,包括 11 岁和 21 岁。这些年轻人不成比例地(75%)是女性。男性发病较晚(晚 1.9 年),他们更不可能采取社会性别过渡的步骤(女性为 65.7%,男性为 28.6%)。预先存在的心理健康问题很常见,有这些问题的年轻人比没有这些问题的年轻人更有可能进行社会和医学过渡。父母报告说,他们经常感到临床医生的压力,要求他们确认自己的 AYA 孩子的新性别并支持他们的过渡。根据父母的说法,AYA 孩子的心理健康在社会过渡后明显恶化。我们讨论了从这个样本中调查回应的潜在偏见,并得出结论,目前没有理由相信支持性别过渡的父母的报告比反对过渡的父母的报告更准确。为了解决 ROGD 的争议,希望未来的研究包括支持和反对过渡的父母以及他们的性别焦虑的 AYA 孩子提供的数据。