Poor peer relations predict parent- and self-reported behavioral and emotional problems of adolescents with gender dysphoria: a cross-national, cross-clinic comparative analysis

Annelou L C de Vries; Thomas D Steensma; Peggy T Cohen-Kettenis; Doug P VanderLaan; Kenneth J Zucker

doi:10.1007/s00787-015-0764-7

Poor peer relations predict parent- and self-reported behavioral and emotional problems of adolescents with gender dysphoria: a cross-national, cross-clinic comparative analysis

Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2016 Jun;25(6):579-88. doi: 10.1007/s00787-015-0764-7. Epub 2015 Sep 15.

Authors

Annelou L C de Vries¹, Thomas D Steensma², Peggy T Cohen-Kettenis², Doug P VanderLaan^{3

4}, Kenneth J Zucker³

Affiliations

¹ Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. alc.devries@vumc.nl.
² Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³ Gender Identity Clinic, Child, Youth, and Family Services, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada.

Abstract

This study is the third in a series to examine behavioral and emotional problems in children and adolescents with gender dysphoria in a comparative analysis between two clinics in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In the present study, we report Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Youth Self-Report (YSR) data on adolescents assessed in the Toronto clinic (n = 177) and the Amsterdam clinic (n = 139). On the CBCL and the YSR, we found that the percentage of adolescents with clinical range behavioral and emotional problems was higher when compared to the non-referred standardization samples but similar to the referred adolescents. On both the CBCL and the YSR, the Toronto adolescents had a significantly higher Total Problem score than the Amsterdam adolescents. Like our earlier studies of CBCL data of children and Teacher's Report Form data of children and adolescents, a measure of poor peer relations was the strongest predictor of CBCL and YSR behavioral and emotional problems in gender dysphoric adolescents.

Keywords: Adolescents; Behavioral and emotional problems; Child Behavior Checklist; Gender dysphoria; Gender identity disorder; Peer relations; Transgender; Youth Self-Report Form.

Publication types

Comparative Study

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior / psychology
Affective Symptoms / epidemiology
Affective Symptoms / psychology*
Child
Child Behavior Disorders / epidemiology
Child Behavior Disorders / psychology*
Female
Forecasting
Gender Dysphoria / epidemiology
Gender Dysphoria / psychology*
Humans
Internationality
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Netherlands / epidemiology
Ontario / epidemiology
Parents / psychology*
Peer Group*
Self Report*