A new study shows that trans kids succeed in life when they have supportive families.
Researchers at the University of Washington say that trans kids have the same level of depression and anxiety as cisgender kids if they are supported.
“I didn’t expect them to be doing quite this well,” Kristina Olson, the head of the university’s TransYouth Project, said to the Seattle Times.
“The study observed 73 transgender children (ages 3 to 12) from the United States and Canada who were living as their authentic gender and had supportive families. It found no differences in rates of depression between these kids and a control group of cisgender peers and siblings,” The Advocate reports.
Their study is a first ever look at mental health among trans children. The study recruited children from the U.S. and Canada, and only had children that had “socially transitioned.” The study backs up what some doctors and parents have been saying for years, which is, kids who are supported in their authentic gender do very well.
The results run counter to other research that show higher rates of depression and suicide in the transgender community than in the general population. Read more about this story here.