# Long-term trajectories of psychosocial functioning among transgender youth and their parents.

> **NIH NIH R01** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · $678,490

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Over the past several years, concerns have escalated across the globe regarding the lack of knowledge about
the long-term effects of gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT; puberty suppression, estrogen,
testosterone) for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth, resulting in widespread legislation and policy
recommendations restricting TGD youth’s access to this treatment. Simultaneously, research demonstrating
short-term improvements in psychosocial functioning (e.g., mental health (MH) and quality of life (QoL)) among
TGD youth receiving GAHT has been steadily accumulating and standards of care continue to support their
use. Unfortunately, studies remain limited by short follow-up periods and small sample sizes. As the volume
and diversity of youth presenting for care is growing, concerns over the stability of TGD youth’s identities and
the likelihood they will regret treatment are also increasing. However, lack of research on within-group
differences in TGD youth’s psychosocial trajectories while receiving GAHT leaves providers with little guidance
on how to individualize care. More broadly, research is limited by poor measurement of gender dysphoria and
lack of inclusion of minority stress and resilience (MSR) factors, which are particularly pronounced in the
current sociopolitical climate. The functioning of parents of youth receiving GAHT has also been overlooked
despite the critical role parents play in the mental health of TGD youth. The proposed project leverages the
longest-running study of TGD youth receiving GAHT in the United States to address each of these critical gaps
in the literature. This study is being conducted at the first and largest multidisciplinary gender-affirming care
program for TGD youth in the Southwest US and has enrolled nearly 700 families since the program was
founded in 2014. The aims of the project are to (1) characterize the 5- and 8-year trajectories of psychosocial
functioning among TGD youth receiving GAHT (including gender dysphoria, MSR, MH, QoL) and their parents
(including MSR and QoL), including how these trajectories influence each other over time, (2) identify and
explore the characteristics of subgroups of individuals who share similar baseline and longitudinal experiences
of gender dysphoria (youth) and MSR (youth, parents), and (3) assess the temporal relationships between MH
(youth), QoL (youth and parents), and sociopolitical stress, including factors that moderate the impact of this
unique form of stress. We will also explore the characteristics and trajectories of youth who experience
changes in their gender and/or stop treatment. The project will be guided by a community-based participatory
approach that will collaborate with TGD youth and their parents throughout the research process, including in
the selection of additional measures to better capture gender dysphoria and sociopolitical stress. Given TGD
youth are at heightened risk of experiencing a broad range ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10934568
- **Project number:** 5R01HD112418-02
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Laura Elizabeth Kuper
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $678,490
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-25 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10934568

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10934568, Long-term trajectories of psychosocial functioning among transgender youth and their parents. (5R01HD112418-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10934568. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*