Demographics and gender-related measures in younger and older adolescents presenting to a gender service

Transgender adolescents may present to gender identity specialty services earlier or later in adolescence. The aim of this study was to examine whether, ‘younger’ and ‘older’ presenters could be identified in a large cohort of transgender adolescents and if differences exist between the two groups. The study sample consisted of 1487 adolescents (506 birth-assigned males, 981 birth-assigned females) referred between 2000 and 2018. The distribution of age at intake was evaluated. Demographic, diagnostic, and treatment characteristics, the Recalled Childhood Gender Identity/Gender Role Questionnaire (RCGI) to measure childhood gender nonconformity and the Body Image Scale (BIS) to measure body image were collected. Based on a stem-and-leaf plot and a histogram, two groups were identified: adolescents presenting at ≤ 13.9 years (‘younger presenters’) and adolescents presenting at 14 years or older (‘older presenters’). The sex ratio was more extreme in the group of older presenters favoring birth-assigned females (Χ(2)(1, N = 1487) = 19.69, p < 0.001). Furthermore, more adolescents from the younger presenting group lived with both biological parents (Χ(2)(1, N = 1427) = 24.78, p < 0.001), were diagnosed with gender dysphoria and started with medical gender-affirming treatment (Χ(2)(1, N = 1404) = 4.60, p = 0.032 and Χ(2)(1, N = 1487) = 29.16, p < 0.001). Younger presenters showed more gender nonconformity in childhood (β 0.315, p < 0.001, 95% CI 0.224–0.407). Older presenters were more dissatisfied with various aspects of their bodies (p < 0.001). The differences between older and younger presenting adolescents suggest that there may be different developmental pathways in adolescents that lead to seeking gender-affirming medical care and argues for more tailored care.