A German study years in the making found that most adolescents grow out of transgenderism.
Many of those who identify as transgender also have at least one underlying psychological condition.
Germany’s Central Institute for Statutory Health Insurance assessed health insurance data for people between the ages of 5 and 24 from 2013 to 2022, finding that two out of three young people will not identify as a transgender individual within five years of the identity’s onset.
Females aged 15-19 were most likely to stop identifying as a member of the opposite sex within that time frame.
According to the study, 72.4% of individuals with gender dysphoria also had at least one other psychological condition, such as depression, anxiety, emotionally unstable disorders, hyperactivity, and PTSD.
Researchers noted that between 2013-2022, the diagnoses of gender dysphoria increased by 780%. “In the period 2013-2022, the prevalence of confirmed coded F64 [gender identity disorder] diagnoses increased from 22.5/100,000 insured persons aged 5 to 24 years to 175.7/100,000,” they wrote. After adjusting the numbers to account for diagnostic criteria, the diagnoses of gender dysphoria were found to have increased by 289%, from 51.9/100,000 to 149.8/100,000.
The study’s authors wrote that “no statement can be made about possible reasons for the increase in the frequency of F64 diagnoses.” They suggested, however, that “social contagion” and “overdiagnoses” may be factors in transgenderism’s elevated rates.
Despite the surge in gender dysphoria diagnoses, only 36.4% of young people maintained a transgender identity after five years.
The researchers called for doctors to reconsider whether gender reassignment is productive in treating gender dysphoria in young individuals.
“Further research into the reasons for the low persistence of diagnosis and the observed increase in prevalence is required,” the authors concluded. “In the meantime, the stability of diagnosis and the high prevalence of accompanying mental disorders should be taken into account in recommendations for starting gender reassignment therapy in adolescence.”
The findings mirror those recorded in a Dutch study earlier this year.
Dutch researchers followed 2,772 children from an average age of 11 to 26, asking about their gender every three years.
“In early adolescence, 11% of participants reported gender non-contentedness,” the authors wrote. Those between the ages of 10-12 were most gender non-content.
Only 4% of participants expressed gender non-contentedness by the time they were adults.
