Psychological Functioning, Parenting Stress, and Parental Support among Clinic-Referred Prepubertal Gender Expansive Children.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to describe psychological functioning, parenting stress, and parental support of gender expansiveness in prepubertal gender expansive children presenting to a specialized pediatric gender clinic and examine relations between parenting factors and child psychological functioning.

METHODS

Standard-of-care questionnaires were completed by parents of all children presenting for services. Data from prepubertal children (i.e., Tanner stage 1 of pubertal development) seen between August 2013 and April 2018 were extracted from patient charts.

RESULTS

Data were analyzed from 71 youth ages three to 11, including 20% (n=14) ages five and younger. Fourteen percent of the sample (n=10) met diagnostic cutoff criteria for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and 20% (n=14) for Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Caregivers reported varying levels of support of their child's gender expansiveness (female caregivers: M=78.85, SD=8.68, range=56-90; male caregivers: M=77.32, SD=10.37, range=53-90), and only 3% (n=2) of caregivers endorsed parenting stress levels in the high range. Parenting stress significantly predicted higher symptom counts across all eight diagnoses. Unexpectedly, higher levels of parental support predicted more symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder and Dysthymia. Parenting stress was a significant moderator of relations between gender-nonconformity and ADHD Hyperactive-Impulsive Type and Conduct Disorder symptoms-higher levels of gender nonconformity was associated with higher symptom counts at moderate and high levels of parenting stress (but not at low levels of parenting stress).

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical interventions aimed at reducing parenting stress among caregivers of gender expansive children may have a positive effect on children's psychological functioning.