Early pubertal timing is common among adolescent girl-to-boy sex reassignment applicants

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of our study was to explore whether gender dysphoria in adolescent girls is associated with early pubertal timing.

Methods: We compared menarcheal timing among 52 adolescent girl-to-boy sex reassignment (SR) applicants with that of 644 adolescent girls who participated in an adolescent population mental health survey.

Results: Of the population girls, 21% presented with early (≤11 years), 61% with normative (12–13 years) and 19% with late (≥14 years) menarcheal timing; among the SR applicants, 42% presented with early, 46% with normative and 12% with late menarcheal timing (p = 0.003). The odds ratio for SR applicant girls to have early menarcheal timing was 2.7 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3, 5.7), controlling for age and family structure.

Conclusion: Like emotional and behavioural disorders, gender dysphoria in adolescence is associated in girls with early pubertal timing. The finding is discussed in the light of literature related to pubertal maturation and mental health.

Chinese abstract

目的: 本研究目的是探讨青春期女孩的性别焦虑是否与青春发动实相提前有关。

方法: 我们对比了52名青少年女变男变性申请者与644名参加青少年人群心理健康调查的青春期女孩的月经初潮时间。

结果: 在参加心理调查的青春期女孩中, 21%表现为月经初潮较早 (≤11岁) , 61%正常 (12-13岁) , 19%较晚 (≥14岁); 在变性申请者中, 42%表现为月经初潮较早, 46%正常, 12%较晚(p = 0.003)。在控制了年龄及家庭结构等因素后, 变性申请者中出现月经初潮较早的OR为2.7 (95%可信区间 (CI) 为1.3, 5.7) 。

结论: 与情感及行为障碍类似, 在青春期女孩中性别焦虑与青春时相发动早有关。这一发现当作青春期成熟与心理健康的相关文献被探讨。

Keywords:

• Adolescence
• gender dysphoria
• pubertal timing

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.