A developmental model of gender identity course based on Hamburg sample of children with gender dysphoria

by. Voltisa LAMA

Abstract

Aims: There are few data concerning first signs and developmental trajectories of people with gender-variant behaviours and this paper aims to describe them in a clinical sample. Method: This paper presents a chart review of 44 children and adolescents assessed for gender dysphoria in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, at the University Hospital Hamburg, Germany. I used information from these charts to reconstruct the course of cross-gender behaviour and identity in these patients from birth up to the time of assessment and organised it in a model. I looked into the pattern of development being representative of this sample and examined continuity/variability within individuals over time. Results: First signs at behavioural level appeared in most cases since the beginning and were consistently reported during preschool years (84%). A prior period of gender typical behaviour before onset of cross-gender behaviour was rare. Conclusion: A particular finding in this clinic based sample is that gender identity expressed around the age of 3-5 years was not reversed later in life. There was a common pattern of development in majority of cases: first signs in kindergarten age and strongly re-emergence around puberty, which might have implications in referral times of this group in the clinic.

How to cite: Lama, V. (2021). A developmental model of gender identity course based on Hamburg sample of children with gender dysphoria. Medicus, 5(2), 23–34.

https://doi.org/10.58944/wyad5244