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TOPLINE:

A study of just over 10,000 US kids and teens aged 11-15 years found that 1.02% of adolescents identify as transgender; approximately 8.2% who were assigned female gender at birth and 1.3% assigned male gender at birth reported sometimes feeling like the other gender.

METHODOLOGY:

• The study included 10,089 adolescents aged 11-15 years (mean age, 12.91 years) from 21 study sites across the US, each assessed through the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study Youth Gender Survey between 2019 and 2021.
• Statistical analysis was performed over a period beginning in June 2024 and ending in March 2025.
• Researchers evaluated six gender constructs: two continuous measures (felt gender, self-described placement on the gender spectrum), two ordinal measures (level of dissatisfaction with one’s gender and gender expression), and two categorical measures (felt gender category and transgender identity).

TAKEAWAY:

• A little over 1% of kids and teens identified as transgender (1.02%; 95% CI, 0.81%-1.27%), with 1.1% (95% CI, 0.9%-1.4%) responding “maybe” to the transgender identity question.
• Gender diversity varied by birth assignment, with 8.2% of adolescents assigned female gender at birth expressing feelings of being a boy and 1.3% of those assigned male gender at birth expressing feelings of being a girl.
• Most adolescents identified with the gender they were assigned at birth, with 51.4% of those assigned male gender at birth identifying as boys and 45.7% of those assigned female gender at birth identifying as girls.

IN PRACTICE:

“Our study highlights the complexity of gender within early adolescents, especially as it relates to the way early adolescents are asked about gender and their understanding of the language used,” the study authors wrote. “The use of multidimensional measurements of gender will aid in the development of inclusive policies and public health guidance that meet the needs of gender-diverse early adolescents.”

SOURCE:

The study was led by Jason M. Nagata, MD, MSc, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco. It was published online on August 11 in JAMA Pediatrics.

LIMITATIONS:

A cross-sectional method and self-reported data were used, which may have affected the accuracy of the results.

DISCLOSURES:

Various study authors reported receiving grants from National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.