Major study of transgender youth experiences in Canada published in Pediatrics

Ottawa — Pediatrics has published a new, first-of-its-kind study that followed and examined the experiences of transgender youth in Canada.

"Our study found that, in spite of high levels of parental support for trans youth seeking gender-affirming medical care, there was lack of timely access to care, with high rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts or actions when these youth were first seen for gender-affirming medical care,” said Dr. Margaret Lawson, the paper’s co-Principal Investigator and Clinical Lead for the research network’s 10 sites across Canada. Dr. Lawson is an endocrinologist at CHEO, a pediatric health-care and research centre in Ottawa, a Senior Scientist at the CHEO Research Institute and a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa.

The study by Trans Youth CAN! explores the medical, social and family contexts of trans youth under the age of 16 seeking gender-affirming care in Canada. The study is following youth and their families over a two-year period from their first clinic visit, and includes youth referred to 10 Canadian clinical sites for medical care that can put a hold on puberty. This publication, the first of many from this study, reports on the experiences of trans youth when seen in their first medical clinic for gender-affirming medical care.

The study examines social context and includes their parents, which sets it apart from other studies in this field. It examines the mental health of these youth, their gender distress, and their family and school experiences.

The baseline data collected near the start of their first clinic visit published in the journal Pediatrics shows youth in the study experienced high rates of anxiety and depression near the start of their care. They also reported having strong support for their gender from their parents. In addition, the study found that almost 65% of families reported having some external stressors as a result of their child identifying as trans.

The study aims to show how these measures may change over time, after the youth have engaged with gender-affirming care.

Other studies with adults show that trans people may experience high levels of depression and anxiety, and research suggests that much of that is related to how they are treated and how they internalize messages about themselves, or feel like they can’t be themselves. These adult studies have shown that social and legal gender affirmation, and gender-affirming medical care help to ease these mental health concerns.

The goal for the Trans Youth CAN! data is to inform practices to help trans youth have a fuller adolescence.

Future analyses of the dataset will look at the effect of pathways to care, school experiences and the process of care in Canada, to provide better information to help guide doctors, nurses, counsellors and schools, as well as trans youth and their families.

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