Following up gender diverse young people referred to adult services

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  What Happens to Gender Diverse Young People who are Referred to Adult Gender Identity Services from Child and Adolescent Services? A Cross-Sectional Look at Treatment Choices and Outcomes

• IRAS ID

  225974

• Contact name

  Lorna Hobbs

• Sponsor organisation

  UEL

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 2 months, 0 days

• Research summary

  In recent years the dimensionality and diversity of gender identity and gender identity difficulties has received increasing attention both in the research literature and popular media. Heightened public awareness has likely contributed to an increase in self-identified gender diversity in children and young people, and there has been a corresponding explosion of people seeking assessment, support and treatment from specialty services for gender diverse youth.

  The Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) is a nationally funded UK specialty service providing assessment, consultation and care to children and young people under the age of 18 who seek support regarding their gender identity. To date there has been no long-term follow up of the young people who attended GIDS. As such, very little is known about the longer term-outcomes and experiences of these young people. Outcomes and experiences of interest include which treatment pathways people chose, what factors influenced people's treatment choices, satisfaction levels with decision-making around interventions, plans (if any) for future interventions, views on timings and length of process of interventions, and satisfaction with gender identity, body and overall wellbeing post-intervention.

  This study is the first of its kind in the UK. All attendees of GIDS who were discharged from the service to Charing Cross Adult Gender Identity clinic between 2011 and 2016 (N approx. = 300) will be followed up via an online questionnaire. The study will contribute valuable insights into the longer-term outcomes and experiences of the gender diverse youth who attended GIDS. The findings will enable better tailoring of gender identity services for children and young people, and be an important step towards ensuring that the support and intervention provided meets the needs of this diverse and growing population.

• REC name

  London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  17/LO/1674

• Date of REC Opinion

  12 Oct 2017

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion