Examining the Relation Between Gender Nonconformity and Psychological Well-Being in Children: The Roles of Peers and Parents

MacMullin, Laura N.; Bokeloh, Lisa M.; Nabbijohn, A. Natisha; Santarossa, Alanna; Miesen, Anna I. R. van der; Peragine, Diana E.; VanderLaan, Doug P.

doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01832-6

Cited by 26 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…As expected, our results confirmed the data of the literature about a significant presence of internalizing symptoms (anxiety, depression, and somatic) and emotional difficulties in the GD group as compared to the cisgender volunteers’ sample [ 12 , 54 , 55 ]. However, the most clinically relevant data were found studying the correlation between BIS and DERS scores in GD adolescents, and their respective potential implication in the modulation of internalizing symptomatology.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Body Emotional Investment and Emotion Dysregulation in a Sample of Adolescents with Gender Dysphoria Seeking Sex Reassignment

Petruzzelli¹,

Margari²,

Furente³

et al. 2022

JCM

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Adolescents with gender dysphoria (GD) often have internalizing symptoms, but the relationship with affective bodily investment and emotion dysregulation is actually under-investigated. The aims of this study are: (1) the comparison of Self-Administrated Psychiatric Scales for Children and Adolescents’ (SAFA), Body Investment Scale’s (BIS), and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale’s (DERS) scores between GD adolescents (n = 30) and cisgenders (n = 30), (2) finding correlations between body investment and emotion regulation in the GD sample, (3) evaluating the link between these dimensions and internalizing symptomatology of GD adolescents. In addition to the significant impairment in emotion regulation and a negative body investment in the GD sample, Spearman’s correlation analyses showed a relationship between worse body protection and impaired emotion regulation, and binary logistic regressions of these dimensions on each SAFA domain evidenced that they may have a role in the increased probability of pathological scores for depression. Our results focused on the role played by emotion regulation and emotional investment in the body in the exacerbating and maintenance of internalizing symptoms, in particular depression, and self-harming behaviors in GD adolescents.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Body Emotional Investment and Emotion Dysregulation in a Sample of Adolescents with Gender Dysphoria Seeking Sex Reassignment

Petruzzelli¹,

Margari²,

Furente³

et al. 2022

JCM

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“…The retrospective nature of part of our measures may introduce the risk of recall and other desirability biases. However, it should be noted that retrospective measures of childhood gender nonconformity are generally found to be highly reliable (Bailey & Zucker, 1995 ; Li et al, 2017 ; MacMullin et al, 2021 ; Rieger et al, 2008 ). It is possible that participants with lower levels of internalized homophobia were more likely to volunteer to take part in the study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of mental health outcomes, CGN has been found to be associated with higher levels of separation anxiety (Santarossa et al, 2019 ) as well as behavioral and emotional challenges in children aged 6–12, which was stronger if the primary caregivers endorsed gender stereotypes and if the child had poor peer relations (MacMullin et al, 2021 ). Alanko et al ( 2009 ) found that levels of recalled CGN correlated with negative recalled ratings of parent–child relationships (corresponding to the authoritarian parenting style), and that both gender nonconformity and negative parent–child relationships predicted adult depression and anxiety symptoms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Recalled Perceived Parental and Peer Acceptance Thereof, Internalized Homophobia, and Psychological Well-Being Outcomes in Heterosexual and Gay Men from Poland

2022

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The link between gender nonconformity and psychopathology may be due in part to negative childhood experiences resulting from other people’s reactions to gender nonconformity. The aim of this study was to test whether recalled perceived levels of parental and peer acceptance of childhood gender nonconforming behaviors and play mediate the relationship of childhood gender nonconformity with depression and social anxiety in adulthood. We also tested whether this relationship was moderated by sexual orientation and, among gay men, whether internalized homophobia was an additional mediator. All variables were measured in a large sample of male participants using self-report (n = 449 gay men, age: M = 27.8 years, SD = 6.69; and n = 296 heterosexual men, age: M = 27.4 years, SD = 6.57) in Poland. Gay men reported more childhood gender nonconformity than heterosexual men. The relationship between gender nonconformity and depressive symptoms as well as social anxiety symptoms was significant in both gay and heterosexual men. Among gay men, this relationship was partially mediated by peer but not parental acceptance of the measured aspects of gender nonconformity and internalized homophobia. Among heterosexual men, recalled perceived parental acceptance of gender nonconformity partially mediated the relationship between gender nonconformity and depressive and social anxiety symptoms. Our findings were partially in line with those found in Western European and North American samples. Although the two groups differed in their recalled perceived gender nonconformity, they did not differ in their depression or social anxiety scores. Nevertheless, childhood gender nonconformity may be an indirect risk associated with mental health symptoms, irrespective of sexual orientation. Its higher prevalence among nonheterosexual individuals makes it a particular risk for this group.

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“…We speculate that greater gender identity issues identified among Sinhalese girls could perhaps be a consequence of it being less common, but also propose that it is more likely that the underlying reasons could be more complex, and influenced by complex social interactions between ethnicity, religion and social class, which will require in-depth study to unravel [23]. Gender non-conformity is related to behavioural and emotional challenges, especially in the setting of parents/guardians who endorse gender-stereotyped attitudes, and psychological counselling should be provided to such families, as it can help improve the social environment and thus improve psychological well-being among gender-nonconforming children [24,25].…”

Section: Discussion/conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In conclusion, we found significant gender-related issues among girls with CAH in this study compared to healthy controls. Thus, we suggest that clinicians managing girls with CAH should screen for gender-related problems using specific questionnaires such as the GIQC, and provide psychological counselling for families of children/adolescents with significant gender nonconformity when possible [24,25].…”

Section: Discussion/conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender-role behaviour and gender identity in girls with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia

et al. 2021

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Introduction Girls with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) are exposed to excess fetal adrenal androgens in-utero, and often born with masculinised genitalia. They are conventionally reared as females, but show more “boyish” gender-role behaviour (GRB) and gender-identity (GI) issues in childhood and adolescence. Male-rearing is also reported mainly due to delayed treatment and/or socio-cultural factors. We compared GRB/GI in girls with CAH with healthy age matched children, and explored for associations with socio-demographic and diagnosis/treatment related factors. Methods GRB and GI were assessed using the Gender Identity Questionnaire for children (GIQC) in 27 girls with classical CAH at a specialised clinic, and compared with 50 age-matched healthy controls, with exploratory-analysis based on socio-demographic and diagnosis/treatment-related factors. Results Girls with CAH had lower total GIQC scores compared to healthy children (3.29 vs. 4.04, p = < 0.001) with lower GRB score (3.39 vs. 4.23, p < 0.001), and tendency for lower GI score (3.19 vs. 3.5, p = 0.08). Exploratory analysis showed no differences based on diagnosis/treatment factors including age, degree of virilisation at diagnosis and surgical procedures. and only subtle changes based on ethnicity and maternal education. Discussion/conclusion Girls with CAH managed at a specialised centre showed more masculinised GRB and tendency for ambiguous GI, which did not vary upon diagnosis/treatment related factors, suggesting that prenatal androgen exposure was the likely contributor. Clinicians should be vigilant about the increased risk of gender-related problems in girls with CAH, irrespective of sociocultural background and despite early treatment.

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Examining the Relation Between Gender Nonconformity and Psychological Well-Being in Children: The Roles of Peers and Parents

Cited by 26 publications

References 65 publications

Body Emotional Investment and Emotion Dysregulation in a Sample of Adolescents with Gender Dysphoria Seeking Sex Reassignment

Body Emotional Investment and Emotion Dysregulation in a Sample of Adolescents with Gender Dysphoria Seeking Sex Reassignment

Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Recalled Perceived Parental and Peer Acceptance Thereof, Internalized Homophobia, and Psychological Well-Being Outcomes in Heterosexual and Gay Men from Poland

Gender-role behaviour and gender identity in girls with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia

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