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Research

Second-level hospital health professionals' attitudes to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents seeking health for their children

The aim was to assess health professionals' knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents accessing healthcare.

Research

The Positive Aspects of Being the Parent of a Trans Child: Findings from Trans Pathways

The existing literature exploring the experiences of parenting a trans child tends toward reporting the challenging aspects of the parental journey. Studies also reference positive experiences such as enhanced parent-child connectedness and affirmation of personal values. Limited dedicated research focused on the positive aspects of parenting a trans child exists. We aimed to better understand positive parental experiences accordingly.

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Childhood and Adolescence Gender Role Nonconformity and Gender and Sexuality Diversity in Young Adulthood

To examine whether commonly used items measuring childhood conformity to gender roles are associated with sexual orientation in young adulthood.

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Experiences of parents of trans young people accessing Australian health services for their child: Findings from Trans Pathways

Many trans young people seek mental health support and gender-affirming medical interventions including puberty suppression, gender-affirming hormones and/or surgeries. Trans young people and their parents face multiple barriers in accessing gender-affirming care and mental health support, however little is known about the parent perspective on accessing services for their trans child.

News & Events

Healthway supports innovative mental health, physical activity research at The Kids

The Kids Research Institute Australia and The University of Western Australia researchers have been awarded more than $1 million in funding from Healthway, for projects to improve the mental health of LGBTQA+ young people, encourage early physical activity in childcare centres and create healthier local environme

Research

Reidentification with Birth-Registered Sex in a Western Australian Pediatric Gender Clinic Cohort

Some young people who identify as transgender and seek gender-affirming medical care subsequently reidentify with their sex registered at birth. Evidence regarding the frequency and characteristics of this experience is lacking. 

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Rates and types of hospitalisations for children who have subsequent contact with the child protection system

To determine whether children who have child maltreatment allegation or substantiation have a higher rate of general hospital admissions and injury related admi

Research

The Role of the Avatar in Gaming for Trans and Gender Diverse Young People

A significant proportion of trans and gender diverse (TGD) young people report membership of the gaming community and resultant benefits to wellbeing. To date their experiences and needs regarding a key feature of games, the avatar, are largely unexplored, despite increasing interest in the therapeutic role of avatars in the general population. The aim of this study was to better understand the role of the avatar in gaming, its impact on TGD young people's mental health, and their unique needs regarding avatar design.

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Trans Young People’s Experiences of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is particularly common among trans young people. Trans young people tend to experience high levels of emotional distress due to the unique stressors they face, and often use NSSI as an emotion regulation strategy. These stressors include gender dysphoria, body image concerns, and transphobic experiences.

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#TransTok: a digital ethnographic study using content analysis to investigate transgender and gender diverse ‘for you page’ content on TikTok that may affect mental health

Transgender and gender diverse (“trans”) people are more likely to experience adverse mental health outcomes due to the social adversities that are commonly experienced. One ameliorating factor for poor mental health outcomes can be connection to community, often facilitated in online spaces such as TikTok.

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A scoping review of trans and gender diverse children and adolescents’ experiences of physical activity, sport, and exercise participation

This study investigated the potential of using SARS-CoV-2 viral Increasing young people's physical activity, along with their motivation and confidence to be active, is widely advocated for supporting desirable health outcomes. Trans and gender diverse (henceforth; trans) young people experience significant physical activity-related barriers compared to cisgender (i.e., an individual for whom gender identity and sex presumed at birth are in alignment) peers.

Research

Affirming schools, population-level data, and holistic public health are key to addressing mental ill-health and substance use disparities among gender and sexuality diverse young people

Yael Perry BPsych (Hons) MPsych (Clin) PhD Head, Youth Mental Health 08 6319 1298 yael.perry@thekids.org.au Head, Youth Mental Health @yaelperry she/

Research

Catalysing change in health and medical research policy: an Australian case study of deliberative democracy to reform sex and gender policy recommendations

Revising public health policy based on new data does not happen automatically. This is acutely relevant to the now undeniable evidence that many diseases develop differently between the sexes and may also be affected by gender. Current health and medical practices across the globe generally fail to cater for sex and gender effects in common diseases. 

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Transgender

Transgender is a term that includes people whose gender identity, gender expression, or behavior does not conform to conventional gender notions of male or female.

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Conceptualising Wellbeing for Australian Aboriginal LGBTQA+ Young People

It is likely that young people who are both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and LGBTQA+ would be at increased risk for poor mental health outcomes due to the layered impacts of discrimination they experience; however, there is very little empirical evidence focused on the mental health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people. The current study represents a qualitative exploration of wellbeing among Aboriginal LGBTQA+ young people. 

Research

Transforming Families

We want to better understand the relationship between parents/carers and their children who identify as trans or gender diverse with the aim of improving the well-being of the whole family.

Research

Gender non-conformity in childhood and adolescence and mental health through to adulthood: A longitudinal cohort study, 1995-2018

Few studies have examined associations between gender non-conformity (GNC) in childhood or adolescence and mental health outcomes later in life. This study examined associations between GNC and mental health over multiple time points in childhood and adolescence, and GNC in childhood and/or adolescence and mental health in adulthood.

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Gender-Neutral Toilets: A Qualitative Exploration of Inclusive School Environments for Sexuality and Gender Diverse Youth in Western Australia

School toilets have been identified by sexuality and gender diverse (SGD) students as the least safe spaces in educational institutions. They are sites of verbal, physical and sexual victimisation.

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Retrospective Examination of Peripubertal Return for Patients of Western Australia's Gender Diversity Service

Children far in advance of pubertal development may be deferred from further assessment for gender-affirming medical treatment until nearer puberty. It is vital that returning peripubertal patients are seen promptly to ensure time-sensitive assessment and provision of puberty suppression treatment where appropriate.

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Psychometric evaluation of the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory in autistic and non-autistic adults

Measures of autistic traits are only useful – for pre-diagnostic screening, exploring individual differences, and gaining personal insight – if they efficiently and accurately assess autism as currently conceptualised while maintaining psychometric validity across different demographic groups. We recruited 1322 autistic and 1279 non-autistic adults who varied in autism status (non-autistic, diagnosed autistic, self-identifying autistic) and gender (cisgender men, cisgender women, gender diverse) to assess the psychometric properties of the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory, a recently developed measure of autistic traits that examines six trait domains using 42 self-report statements.