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This study aimed to provide further validity evidence for the dimensional measurement of gender identity and gender dysphoria in both adolescents and adults. Adolescents and adults with gender identity disorder (GID) were compared to clinical control (CC) adolescents and adults on the Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults (GID YQ-AA), a 27-item scale originally developed by Deogracias et al. (2007). In Study 1, adolescents with GID (n = 44) were compared to CC adolescents (n = 98); and in Study 2, adults with GID (n = 41) were compared to CC adults (n = 94). In both studies, clients with GID self-reported significantly more gender dysphoria than did the CCs, with excellent sensitivity and specificity rates. In both studies, degree of self-reported gender dysphoria was significantly correlated with recall of cross-gender behavior in childhood--a test of convergent validity. The research and clinical utility of the GID YQ-AA is discussed, including directions for further research in distinct clinical populations., In contemporary developmental psychology and sexology, gender identity is usually described in a binary manner (i.e., a male vs. a female gender identity). In clinical practice, this has been translated [...]

P. Hegarty (2009) offered several critiques of the articles by G. Rieger, J. A. W. Linsenmeier, L. Gygax, and J. M. Bailey (2008) and K. D. Drummond, S. J. Bradley, M. Peterson-Badali, and K. J. Zucker (2008) that were published in a Developmental Psychology special section entitled 'Sexual Orientation Across the Lifespan,' guest-edited by C. J. Patterson and R. C. Savin-Williams (2008): (a) reliance on a 'disease paradigm' (i.e., the use of 'medicalizing' language) of lesbian--gay--bisexual--transgender issues at the expense of a 'stigma paradigm,' (b) endorsement of a developmental linkage between childhood sex-typed behavior and later gender identity--sexual orientation, and (c) various sociophilosophical and applied matters pertaining to the diagnosis of gender identity disorder in children. In this reply, we address these 3 criticisms and argue that an interdisciplinary approach, informed by multiple paradigms, will most certainly facilitate, not impede, the discovery of answers to many questions about psychosexual development for which data are currently lacking. Keywords: gender identity disorder, psychosexual differentiation, sexual orientation, gender role

This study provided information on the natural histories of 25 girls with gender identity disorder (GID). Standardized assessment data in childhood (mean age, 8.88 years; range, 3-12 years) and at follow-up (mean age, 23.24 years; range, 15-36 years) were used to evaluate gender identity and sexual orientation. At the assessment in childhood, 60% of the girls met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for GID, and 40% were subthreshold for the diagnosis. At follow-up, 3 participants (12%) were judged to have GID or gender dysphoria. Regarding sexual orientation, 8 participants (32%) were classified as bisexual/homosexual in fantasy, and 6 (24%) were classified as bisexual/homosexual in behavior. The remaining participants were classified as either heterosexual or asexual. The rates of GID persistence and bisexual/homosexual sexual orientation were substantially higher than base rates in the general female population derived from epidemiological or survey studies. There was some evidence of a 'dosage' effect, with girls who were more cross-sex typed in their childhood behavior more likely to be gender dysphoric at follow-up and more likely to have been classified as bisexual/homosexual in behavior (but not in fantasy). Keywords: gender identity disorder, gender identity, sexual orientation, girls, follow-up

This study examined demographic characteristics, social competence, and behavior problems in clinic referred children with gender identity problems in Toronto, Canada (N = 358), and Utrecht, The Netherlands (N = 130). The Toronto sample was, on average, about a year younger than the Utrecht sample at referral, had a higher percentage of boys, had a higher mean IQ, and was less likely to be living with both parents. On the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), both groups showed, on average, clinical range scores in both social competence and behavior problems. A CBCL-derived measure of poor peer relations showed that boys in both clinics had worse ratings than did the girls. A multiple regression analysis showed that poor peer relations were the strongest predictor of behavior problems in both samples. This study--the first cross-national, cross-clinic comparative analysis of children with gender identity disorder--found far more similarities than differences in both social competence and behavior problems. The mo st salient demographic difference was age at referral. Cross-national differences in factors that might influence referral patterns are discussed. KEY WORDS: gender identity disorder; Child Behavior Checklist; behavior problems; social competence; peer relations.

Research on sex differences examines the relationship between left-handedness and gender identity disorder in boys. Findings suggest that left-handedness is a behavioral indication of a deeper neurobiological process related to gender identity disorder in males.

Probands of 444 boys, who were either referred for assessment or were subjects of case studies on gender identity disorder, represented a sibling sex ratio of 131.1:100 (brothers:sisters). This ratio replicated the Blanchard, Zucker, Bradley and Hume findings (1995) of 140.6:100 which suggested that gender identity disorder in boys was due to excess of brothers. To test these findings, related psychosocial and biological studies are recommended.

From 1978 through 1995, a sex ratio of 6.6:1 of boys to girls (N = 275) was observed for children referred to a specialty clinic for gender identity disorder. This article attempts to evaluate several hypotheses regarding the marked sex disparity in referral rates. The sexes did not differ on four demographic variables (age at referral, IQ, and parent's social class and marital status) and on five indices of general behavior problems on the Child Behavior Checklist; in addition, there was only equivocal evidence that boys with gender identity disorder had significantly poorer peer relations than girls with gender identity disorder. Although the percentage of boys and girls who met the complete DSM-III-R criteria for gender identity disorder was comparable, other measures of sex-typed behavior showed that the girls had more extreme cross-gender behavior than the boys. Coupled with external evidence that cross-gender behavior is less tolerated in boys than in girls by both peers and adults, it is concluded that social factors partly account for the sex difference in referral rates. Girls appear to require a higher threshold than boys for cross-gender behavior before they are referred for clinical assessment. KEY WORDS: Gender identity disorder; sex differences; boys; girls.

The purpose of this study was to extend the findings, previously limited to adults, that male homosexuals have a greater than average proportion of male siblings and a later than average birth order. There were 2 matched groups of 156 probands. The homosexual-prehomosexual (HP) group included boys referred to a specialty clinic because of persistent cross-gender behavior plus homosexual adolescents with or without gender identity problems. The controls were male child and adolescent patients referred for reasons other than gender identity disorder, homosexuality, or transvestism. Both predicted results were obtained in comparisons of the HP group with the controls and with expected values for the general population. Psychosocial and biological theories have been advanced to explain why male homosexuals have later births and more brothers, but none are well established.

Interactions among mother's prenatal wish for a girl, sibling sex ratio and boyhood femininity were explored in a study based on sample data from Los Angeles, CA, and Toronto, Ontario. In the Los Angeles sample, only 26.9% of mothers of feminine boys recalled wishing for a girl, compared to 19.2% in the control group. In both groups, maternal wish for a girl was associated with probands with all-male older siblings. In the Toronto group, 43.7% of mothers of feminine boys remembered wanting a girl, but there was no control group. For both samples, prenatal gender preference seems to be associated with sibship characteristics rather than with boyhood femininity.

A group of 57 children participated in this study to assess the effect of different toys on children with gender identity disorders. The children were subdivided into four groups: 15 normal girls, 15 normal boys, 15 psychiatric controls, and 12 children who met the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, third edition, for gender identity disorder. The children exhibiting symptoms of gender identity disorder typically expressed a repeated desire to be a member of the opposite sex or, in some cases, denied the reality of their gender. The children ranged in ages from four to seven years and the median age was 4.8 years. A variety of play situations were devised where a choice of different toys was available to each group. The toys were either stereotypically feminine, masculine, or 'neutral', consisting of such toys as puppets, a clarinet, or Etch-a-Sketch; a variety of different sex-typed clothing was also provided to allow the children to play 'dress-up'. Play behaviors and preferences in toys were observed in each group. The children with gender identity disorders spent less time with same-sex toys than they spent playing with cross-sex toys, as compared with the psychiatric controls and the normal boys. However, no significant differences in the play patterns of the gender-disordered group were found when compared with the normal girls. Within the group of gender-disordered children, some degree of individual variation was also observed in play choices. In general, less extreme patterns of sex-typed play were observed in the normal girls than in any of the other groups. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)