Parents' views on appropriate support for gender variant children
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A qualitative study examining the views of parents on appropriate support for their pre-pubertal gender variant children
IRAS ID
195735
Contact name
Iva Roberts
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Essex
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 29 days
Research summary
Little is known about the experiences of parents whose pre-pubescent children have expressed gender variance and are seeking physical intervention for gender reassignment. Understanding more about these parents' experiences will be of value to service providers and voluntary support organisations, as well as children who experience gender variance and their families. This study will examine the views and experiences of parents on appropriate support for thier pre-pubertal gender variant children. The study will employ grounded theory methods which will involve interviewing parents about their views and experiences. Interviews will explore parents views of how their child’s gender identity developed; how they make sense of their child’s gender identity; what challenges have they had to face and what has helped with these; what they consider to be the appropriate support for their children, what factors they are considering in relation to making a decision about early physical intervention; how they think physical intervention might impact on them and their child in the future.
Participants will be English speaking parents of gender variant children who meet the criteria for DSM-V Gender Dysphoria, have socially transitioned and are whose are seeking physical intervention.
Participants (maximum n=20) will be recruited via the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), which provides a psychotherapy service for young people up to age 18.
Participants will be fully informed of the aim of the study and asked to sign a consent form. Individual interviews will last approximately an hour. The interview will be recorded and transcribed by the researcher. The researcher will use grounded theory approaches (involving different levels of coding and constant comparison) to analyse the data.This research will fulfil part of the requirements for the researcher's doctorate in clinical psychology.
REC name
Wales REC 6
REC reference
16/WA/0081
Date of REC Opinion
1 Mar 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion