Most gender-confused children grow out of it, landmark 15-year study concludes ... trends now
The majority of gender-confused children grow out of that feeling by the time they are fully grown adults, according to a long-term study.
Researchers in the Netherlands tracked more than 2,700 children from age 11 to their mid-twenties, asking them every three years of feelings about their gender.
Results showed at the start of the research, around one-in-10 children (11 percent) expressed 'gender non-contentedness' to varying degrees.
But by age 25, just one-in-25 (4 percent) said they 'often' or 'sometimes' were discontent with their gender.
The researchers concluded: 'The results of the current study might help adolescents to realize that it is normal to have some doubts about one’s identity and one’s gender identity during this age period and that this is also relatively common.'
It comes amid a massive boom in transgender children receiving drugs to change their gender in the US - as critics say doctors and parents are not challenging young people enough.
Patrick Brown, a fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center who was not involved in the research, told DailyMail.com: 'This study provides even more reason to be skeptical towards aggressive steps to facilitate gender transition in childhood and adolescence.
'The fact that rates of satisfaction are lower even just a few years later suggests that for the vast majority of people, prudence and caution, rather than a rush towards permanent surgeries or hormone therapies, will be the best approach for teenagers struggling to make sense of the world and their place in it.
'As such, policies that prohibit gender transition for minors make a great deal of sense.'
The study is one of the longest into the issue of gender in children - but the researchers point out it has some limitations.
For one, it looked at a mixture of children from the general population and kids who were receiving mental health care - though not specifically for anything related to their gender.
Therefore it does not necessarily reflect the attitudes of children clinically diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
The researchers, from the University of Groningen, analyzed the data of 2,770 people who were part of the Tracking Adolescent's Individual Lives Survey.
Participants were asked to respond to the statement 'I wish to be of the opposite sex' at six different points over 15 years.
They were given a multiple choice: 0-Not True, 1-Somewhat or Sometimes True, and 2-Very True or Often True.
The same prompt was given every two or three years from the start of the study in March 2001 until the end.
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Researchers looked for those expressing 'gender non-contentedness,' or unhappiness with being the gender aligned with their biological sex.
The study, published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, found that overall 78 percent of people had the same feelings about their gender over the 15 years.
Around 19 percent became more content with their gender and just about 2 percent became less comfortable.
Participants were also asked to evaluate their self-worth by rating how they felt about their physical appearance and self esteem.
According to the findings, females were more likely to report being unhappy with their gender and both increasing and decreasing 'non-contentedness' were associated with lower self-reported
