Study: Transgenderism Is ‘Social Contagion’ for Teens

A new study strongly suggests that social contagion is a factor in teenagers and young adults identifying as transgender.

“During the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in adolescents and young adults (AYA) complaining of gender dysphoria,” reads the abstract for the study, which examines the recent epidemic of young people identifying as transgender.

The study goes on to state that one of the influential explanations for this increase in gender dysphoria is that it “reflects a socially contagious syndrome” known as Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD).

On Wednesday, Suzanna Diaz and J. Michael Bailey published the study, which examined 1,655 parent reports to investigate a ROGD theory by Dr. Lisa Littman, who in 2018 hypothesized that “there has been an increase in gender dysphoria among adolescents, especially adolescent females.”

The study, which appears to be the largest of its kind to date, consists of parent reports from the website Parents of ROGD Kids.

“We report results from a survey of parents who contacted the website ParentsofROGDKids.com because they believed their AYA children had ROGD,” the study reads, adding that reports showed the gender dysphoria began between ages 11 and 21 years old.

Noteworthy findings revealed that adolescent-onset gender dysphoria disproportionately affects females, with 75 percent of the sample being females, and 25 percent of the sample being males.

Social contagions are known to disproportionately affect adolescent girls and young women.

When asked if their child had friends who “came out as transgender around the same time,” 55.4 percent said “yes,” with that response being significantly higher for females, (60.9 percent) than it was for males (38.7 percent).

Additionally, “pre-existing mental health issues were common,” with 42 percent having had a formal mental health diagnosis, “and youths with these issues were more likely than those without them to have socially and medically transitioned.”

The study also revealed that parents said they oftentimes felt pressured by clinicians to go along with their child’s new gender identity and support their transition. The parents added that their children’s “mental health deteriorated considerably after social transition.”

The authors also acknowledged the potential bias of their sample, but noted that there is “no reason to believe that reports of parents who support gender transition are more accurate than those who oppose transition,” and that “research on children’s development in many domains has long depended on parent reports.”

“One statistically robust finding was both disturbing and seemingly important,” the study adds. “Youths with a history of mental health issues were especially likely to have taken steps to socially and medically transition.”

The authors explain that this finding is concerning, because “youth with mental health issues may be especially likely to lack judgment necessary to make these important, and in the case of medical transition permanent, decisions.”

Parents also estimated that before developing gender dysphoria, their child was spending an average of 4.5 hours per day “on the internet and social media.”

When asked whether a stressful event in their child’s life may have contributed to the onset of gender dysphoria, 72.6 percent of parents answered “yes.”

“Inspection of specific responses suggested that these stressful events varied considerably in both their nature and severity. For example, a number of parents noted that the family had moved recently. Others mentioned the youth’s romantic difficulties,” the authors wrote.

“But a few said that the youth had suffered severe physical or sexual abuse, and several mentioned that a friend or relative had committed suicide,” the authors of the study added.

The findings also revealed that males’ gender dysphoria began 1.9 years later than it did for females.

The authors offer two possible explanations for this: one is that females begin puberty earlier than males, so if pubertal changes play a role in the onset of gender dysphoria, then earlier onset for females is expected. The second explanation relates to “the existence of different causes for gender dysphoria in natal females and males.”

“Specifically, one kind of gender dysphoria, stemming from autogynephilia — a natal male’s sexual arousal at the idea of being female — occurs only in adolescent and post-adolescent natal males and does not appear to have an analogue among natal females,” they study read.

In 2021, research published by the Trevor Project found that over one in four — 26 percent — of LGBTQ youth identify as nonbinary. An additional 20 percent said they are not sure or are questioning whether they identify as nonbinary.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.