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Research
Gender DiversityNot all children or teenagers identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. As a result, some may choose to change their name, their clothes or their body. With considerably higher rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and attempted suicide, the need for specialist mental health services has been recognised.
News & Events
New website provides tools and resources for parents of gender diverse children and young peopleTransforming Families is providing evidence-based resources to help support the mental wellbeing of young people questioning their gender identity, or who identify as trans or gender diverse.
News & Events
My child is trans – how do I support them?Raising a child in one gender and then having them identify as another at any stage in their life can be difficult for a parent to understand and is not always an easy shift for a parent to make.
Research
Effectiveness, Acceptability, and Feasibility of Digital Health Interventions for LGBTIQ+ Young People: Systematic ReviewYoung people (aged 12-25 years) with diverse sexuality, gender, or bodily characteristics, such as those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or queer (LGBTIQ+), are at substantially greater risk of a range of mental, physical, and sexual health difficulties compared with their peers. Digital health interventions have been identified as a potential way to reduce these health disparities.
Research
Plasma testosterone concentration is correlated with circulating immune cell abundance in transgender young people on gender-affirming hormone treatmentSex hormones, such as oestrogen and testosterone, display significant immune modulatory properties. This is highly relevant for transgender (trans) people who undergo gender-affirming hormone (GAH) treatment. However, only a limited number of studies have evaluated the immunological impact of GAH treatments, and almost none have assessed the impact in trans young people.
Research
E-cigarette use among gender and sexuality diverse (LGBTQA+) adolescents in Australia: The case for LGBTQA+ affirmative harm reductionThis study aimed to provide a first-ever comprehensive epidemiology of vaping behaviours among Australian gender and sexuality diverse (LGBTQA+) youth.
Research
Mental health assessment of transgender youth - Should standardised psychological measures be scored by norms of birth-registered sex?Standardised psychometric measures are used in mental health care and research settings to identify risk, assist diagnosis, and assess symptom severity. Standardised scoring of these measures involves transforming respondents' raw scores using binary sex norms. However, scoring manuals offer no guidance as to appropriate scoring methods for trans and non-binary respondents.
Research
Sexuality and Gender Diversity Among Adolescents in Australia, 2019-2021Sexuality- and gender-diverse (SGD) young people experience substantial health disparities relative to cisgender heterosexual peers. Little is known about SGD adolescents younger than 15 years.
Research
A Pilot Group Program for Parents of Trans Young People at a Specialized Pediatric Gender Diversity ServiceParental support is strongly associated with protective factors across a range of child health outcomes for trans young people. Commonly, parents report barriers to supporting their child such as lack of understanding and difficulty in accessing information and support regarding gender diversity.
Research
It’s time for change: inequities and determinants of health-related quality of life among gender and sexually diverse young people in AustraliaThis study was guided by three research aims: firstly, to examine the longitudinal trends of health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) among gender and sexuality diverse (LGBTQA2S+) young people through adolescence (ages 14-19); secondly, to assess longitudinal associations between poor mental health and HR-QoL among LGBTQA2S+ young people through adolescence; and thirdly, to examine differences in HR-QoL among LGBTQA2S+ young people during early adolescence (ages 14 and 15) depending on select school-, peer-, and parent-level factors.