Study Discredits “Social Contagion” Among Trans Kids
As legislative efforts to strip trans people of life-affirming healthcare continue, bolstered by disinformation, researchers have found that the theory of “social contagion” causing gender dysphoria in trans kids is not credible. The study—led by Boston-based Fenway Institute—was published in the journal Pediatrics and disproves the concept of “rapid-onset gender dysphoria” (not a formal mental health term or diagnosis) and explains that kids coming out as trans are not just doing so because their friends are. This might seem obvious, but many conservative thinkers commonly disbelieve kids when they tell us who they are—even when it takes courage and might subject them to bullying. “The idea that attempts to flee sexual minority stigma drive teenagers to come out as transgender is absurd, especially to those of us who provide treatment to [transgender and gender diverse] youth,” says Dr Jack Turbam, an incoming assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and the lead author of the study. Read more at NBC News.
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