A large study out of Finland has found that adolescents referred for sex changes continued to experience high rates of psychiatric problems and were more likely to need additional mental health care than other young people.
The research, published in Acta Paediatrica, examined national education and health records in Finland from 1996 through 2019. Researchers tracked roughly 2,100 children and young adults who had been referred to Finland’s Gender Identity Services.
The study found that youth with gender dysphoria had substantially higher rates of psychiatric treatment before they were referred to gender clinics, and those rates increased after referral.
Nearly 46 percent of adolescents with gender dysphoria had received psychiatric treatment before being referred to a gender clinic. Two years after referral, nearly 62 percent had required psychiatric care.
Researchers wrote that adolescents with gender dysphoria “showed significantly higher psychiatric morbidity” than their peers before referral, and that the pattern remained after treatment. The authors said the findings suggest gender dysphoria “may be secondary to other mental health challenges.”
“This underscores the need to thoroughly assess and appropriately treat mental disorders among those seeking [gender reassignment] before and after undergoing irreversible medical treatments,” the authors wrote. “Psychiatric needs must be adequately met.”
The Finnish data also found that psychiatric treatment needs increased during follow-up among patients who underwent medical sex change. Among males who underwent female sex change procedures, the rate of psychiatric treatment increased from about 10 percent to 61 percent. Among females who underwent male sex change procedures, the rate rose from about 22 percent to 55 percent.
After accounting for prior psychiatric treatment, girls with gender dysphoria were found to be three times more likely to require future psychiatric care than other girls their age. Boys with gender dysphoria were five times more likely to require additional psychiatric treatment. The researchers said those differences remained regardless of whether the adolescents ultimately underwent medical sex change procedures.
The study is one of the largest to examine long-term outcomes for youth referred to gender clinics. Because Finland maintains centralized health records and conducts extensive school-based mental health screening, researchers were able to follow patients over more than two decades. That gave them a unusually broad look at what happened after referral.
Kurt Miceli, who was not involved in the study, said the findings raise questions about using medical sex change as an early response to gender dysphoria.
“In reality, what we’re seeing is that there’s an even greater need for individuals who have undergone these medical interventions for psychiatric services,” Miceli told the Washington Examiner. “That really should help alarm us and make sure that we were providing those psychiatric services initially.”
“As a psychiatrist, it certainly screams of the need to really make sure that we are providing good quality psychiatric care,” Miceli said.
The research, published in Acta Paediatrica, examined national education and health records in Finland from 1996 through 2019. Researchers tracked roughly 2,100 children and young adults who had been referred to Finland’s Gender Identity Services.
The study found that youth with gender dysphoria had substantially higher rates of psychiatric treatment before they were referred to gender clinics, and those rates increased after referral.
Nearly 46 percent of adolescents with gender dysphoria had received psychiatric treatment before being referred to a gender clinic. Two years after referral, nearly 62 percent had required psychiatric care.
Researchers wrote that adolescents with gender dysphoria “showed significantly higher psychiatric morbidity” than their peers before referral, and that the pattern remained after treatment. The authors said the findings suggest gender dysphoria “may be secondary to other mental health challenges.”
“This underscores the need to thoroughly assess and appropriately treat mental disorders among those seeking [gender reassignment] before and after undergoing irreversible medical treatments,” the authors wrote. “Psychiatric needs must be adequately met.”
The Finnish data also found that psychiatric treatment needs increased during follow-up among patients who underwent medical sex change. Among males who underwent female sex change procedures, the rate of psychiatric treatment increased from about 10 percent to 61 percent. Among females who underwent male sex change procedures, the rate rose from about 22 percent to 55 percent.
After accounting for prior psychiatric treatment, girls with gender dysphoria were found to be three times more likely to require future psychiatric care than other girls their age. Boys with gender dysphoria were five times more likely to require additional psychiatric treatment. The researchers said those differences remained regardless of whether the adolescents ultimately underwent medical sex change procedures.
The study is one of the largest to examine long-term outcomes for youth referred to gender clinics. Because Finland maintains centralized health records and conducts extensive school-based mental health screening, researchers were able to follow patients over more than two decades. That gave them a unusually broad look at what happened after referral.
Kurt Miceli, who was not involved in the study, said the findings raise questions about using medical sex change as an early response to gender dysphoria.
“In reality, what we’re seeing is that there’s an even greater need for individuals who have undergone these medical interventions for psychiatric services,” Miceli told the Washington Examiner. “That really should help alarm us and make sure that we were providing those psychiatric services initially.”
“As a psychiatrist, it certainly screams of the need to really make sure that we are providing good quality psychiatric care,” Miceli said.
