Transgender youth health

Transgender children and adolescents do not identify with the gender presumed for them at birth, and ongoing research is helping to better support their lifelong health and wellbeing.

Being transgender or gender diverse (collectively described as being trans) is part of the natural spectrum of human diversity. Many young trans people experience distress related to gender dysphoria, rejection and/or discrimination. However, being trans is not a mental health problem or condition.

Gender dysphoria is the distress felt by people whose gender identity (sense of being male, female or something else) differs from the sex assigned to them at birth. For some trans people, this difference can cause significant distress, negatively impacting mental health and limiting their participation in social and physical activities.

Referrals of young trans people to clinical services, such as The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) Gender Service, have risen considerably in Australia and internationally. There is increasing evidence that supportive clinical care significantly improves young trans people’s health and wellbeing, but many lack access to such care.

Who does it affect?

It is estimated that 2-3 per cent of young people in Australia identify as trans.

Gender dysphoria is common among trans young people, although not every trans person experiences it.

Almost three-quarters of trans people experience anxiety and/or depression.

Around two-thirds of trans young people experience discrimination and/or family rejection.

Our transgender health research

The overall goal of the Transgender Health group is to produce high-quality research evidence that improves the health and wellbeing of trans young people in Australia and globally.

Our research is developed in consultation with our community advisory group, which includes young trans people, their families, and organisations that support trans youth.

Some transgender health projects we are conducting include:

Trans20, a long-term study exploring the physical and mental health outcomes over time for trans children and adolescents attending the RCH Gender Service

Comparing the ways different services provide gender-affirming care for trans young people

Examining a group program that supports trans young people’s mental health, including those with limited access to services or on long waitlists (Trans Adolescent Group ThErapy for Alleviating Minority stress; TAG TEAM)

Studying the effects of gender affirming medical treatments (e.g. hormones and puberty blockers) on longer-term physical, mental health, cognitive, and wellbeing outcomes

Understanding trans young people’s readiness to make decisions about hormones

Exploring the concept of gender euphoria, which describes the positive feelings about a person’s gender identity, and how it may be measured.

Impacts of our research

Impacts of our research

Our team developed the first Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for Transgender and Gender Diverse Children and Adolescents, which has been described by The Lancet as representing a paradigm shift in the provision of care and is now used in every paediatric gender clinic in Australia.

We developed and evaluated a new waitlist intervention and identified that it significantly improves the quality of life of trans young people.

Our research demonstrated that trans young people are interested in fertility preservation (storage of egg or sperm). Clinics across Australia, New Zealand and the USA have increased access to relevant services.

We are leading the Trans20 project, which is following the health and wellbeing of more than 600 young trans people throughout childhood, adolescence and into adulthood.

We have designed and are evaluating the first measure of gender euphoria.

Our research contributed to RCH’s Gender Service being awarded The Minister for Mental Health’s Award for Excellence at the 2018 Victorian Public Healthcare Awards.

We founded and lead Australia’s first national trans health research consortium, the Australian Research Consortium for Trans Youth and Child Research (ARCTYC). As part of this, we are helping to establish the world’s largest longitudinal (long-term, repeated) collection of data about gender-affirming care for trans young people.

Our vision

Our vision is to improve the healthcare, wellbeing and overall outcomes of trans young people and their families.

Where to next?

We aim to continue leading innovative and much-needed research in Australia and internationally. As part of this, we are actively involving trans young people, their families, and trans-led community organisations to ensure our research is relevant, safe, and meaningful.