A study on gender dysphoria conducted in 1994 has resurfaced and is making waves over the conclusions it draws.
Researchers compared mothers of boys with gender identity disorder with mothers of “normal boys to determine whether differences in psychopathy and child-rearing attitudes and practices could be identified.”
According to the study, “mothers of boys with gender identity disorders had more symptoms of depression and more often met the criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)” than mothers of boys who don’t exhibit issues with their gender identity.
More than half (53 percent) of moms of boys with gender identity disorders had been diagnosed with depression or BPD, compared to just six percent of the control group. Additionally, 44 percent sought psychiatric help for depression at some point in their life.
Researchers found that mothers of sons with gender identity disorders are “extremely dependent on their sons for emotional sustenance,” exhibiting “boundary problems and difficulty separating from their sons.”
“It was also observed that many women had symptoms of a narcissistic personality disorder,” the paper states.
The resurfaced paper could reignite debate over the degree to which gender identity disorders among youth are the result of social contagion, or other factors unrelated to a child’s own physiology or psychology, as the U.S. addresses the spike in gender-related psychoses.
Over the past few years, the number of young people who identify as transgender has doubled, according to research published by the University of California in 2022. Now, nearly one-in-five people who identify as transgender are aged 13 to 17.
The 1994 paper found that mothers of sons with gender identity disorders had “longstanding difficulties” with interpersonal relations, including issues with separation, depression, and the management of aggression.
“They describe themselves as compulsively seeking companionship, as prone to intense, emotionally stormy, angry relationships, and as having chronic and intense feelings of loneliness, emptiness, and depression,” researchers noted. “They tend to make excessive demands on people and feel entitled to do so.”
As a result of the findings, researchers called for additional studies to “shed light on the familial contribution” to gender identity disorders.
