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Evaluation ViewAttendees 22

Invited Plenary

LGBTQ+

Plenary 2b - State of the Science and Emerging Research on Gender Affirmative Medical Care for Transgender Youth

Saturday, November 22, 2025
8:30 AM - 9:45 AM CST
Location: Celestin D&E, Level 3
Earn 0.5 Credit
Keywords: LGBTQ+, Adolescents , Longitudinal
Level of Familiarity: All
Recommended Readings: Huit, T.Z., Coyne, C.A., & Chen, D. (2024). State of the science: Gender-affirming care for transgender and gender diverse youth. Behavior Therapy, 55, 1335-1347. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2024.02.010. [PMID: 39443069],   Coyne, C.A., Yuodsnukis, B., & Chen, D. (2023). Gender dysphoria: Optimizing healthcare for transgender and gender diverse youth with a multidisciplinary approach. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 19, 479-493. DOI: 10.2147/NDT.S359979 [PMID: 36879947; PMCID: PMC9985385],   Chen, D., Berona, J., Chan, Y.M., Ehrensaft, D., Garofalo, R., Hidalgo, M.A., Rosenthal, S.M., Tishelman, A.C., & Olson-Kennedy, J. (2023). Psychosocial functioning in transgender youth after two years of hormones. New England Journal of Medicine, 388, 240-250. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2206297 [PMID: 36652355; PMCID: PMC10081536],   ,  

    Presenter(s)

  • Diane Chen, Ph.D.

    Behavioral Health Director of Adolescent Medicine/Professor
    Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
    Chicago, IL, United States

Transgender and nonbinary (TNB) youth experience gender in ways that do not align with their designated sex at birth. Recent estimates suggest TNB youth comprise between 2% and 9% of high-school aged youth in the United States. Many TNB youth experience gender dysphoria—the persistent affective distress stemming from gender incongruence—and increasingly, TNB youth seek transition-related medical care to address dysphoria. The field of pediatric gender medicine is rapidly evolving, outpacing outcomes research in this marginalized population. Pediatric gender medicine also is increasingly politicized, with disinformation running rampant. This presentation will: (1) introduce the gender affirmative model of care and how it has evolved over the last decade, (2) highlight current gaps in research related to pediatric gender health care, and (3) present emerging research from the Trans Youth Care Study—the first NIH-funded study on medical/mental health outcomes of early medical treatment in TNB youth.

Outline:

Background and terminology
Key tenets of gender affirmative care
Gender transition = process of changing gender presentation and/or physical body to be more aligned with gender identity
Reversible
Partially reversible
Irreversible
Continuum of gender-affirming medical/surgical care
Pubertal suppression with GnRH analogs, exogenous testosterone/estrogen, and gender-affirming surgery
Historical “Dutch Model”
Research outcomes
Developmentally-informed affirmative approach
Research outcomes
Findings from the TYC Study

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Identify key tenents of gender affirmative care.
  2. Discuss current gaps in research related to pediatric gender care.
  3. Describe emerging research on psychosocial outcomes of gender-affirming medical care.
  4. Long-term Goal: Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the gender affirmative model, including how it has evolved to support the health and wellbeing of TNB youth. Attendees will be equipped to integrate affirming, evidence-based practices in clinical or policy
  5. Long-term Goal: Participants will recognize the urgency for research-informed practice in pediatric gender medicine.