In a national convenience sample of prepubescent children presenting as transgender in all social settings, anxiety and depression levels were similar to those in nontransgender children.
Current evidence on mental health in transgender adolescents and adults indicates elevated risk for anxiety, depression, and suicidality in these groups. Whether risk for these poor mental health outcomes is similar in prepubescent children who are transgender (“those who persistently, insistently, and consistently identify as the gender that is the ‘opposite' of their natal sex”) is unclear.
To assess the risk for anxiety and depression in prepubescent transgender children who have socially transitioned (are fully supported by families and being raised and presenting to others as their identified gender vs. natal sex in all social settings), researchers recruited a convenience sample of 73 transgender children aged 3 to 12 years and asked t…