Transcript What is gender identity disorder? (continued)

Psychology 320:
Psychology of Gender
and Sex Differences
Lecture 26
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Gender Identity Disorder
1. What is gender identity disorder? (continued)
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By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:
1. identify contemporary controversies in the diagnosis
of GID.
2. discuss the rates of GID among males and females.
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3. describe current treatment options for GID.
4. identify contemporary controversies in the treatment
of GID.
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What is gender identity disorder? (continued)
• The diagnostic criteria for GID in the DSM-IV-TR are
as follows:
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A. A strong persistent cross-gender identification (not
merely a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of
being the other sex).
In adolescents and adults, symptoms include stated
desire to be the other sex, frequent passing as the other
sex, desire to live or be treated as the other sex, or the
conviction that he or she has the typical feelings and
reactions of the other sex.
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In children, manifested by four (or more) of the
following:
(a) repeatedly stated desire to be, or insistence that he
or she is, the other sex.
(b) in boys, preference for cross-dressing or simulating
female attire; in girls, insistence on wearing only
stereotypical masculine clothing.
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(c) strong and persistent preferences for cross-sex
roles in make-believe play or persistent fantasies
of being the other sex.
(d) intense desire to participate in the stereotypical
games and pastimes of the other sex.
(e) strong preference for playmates of the other sex.
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B. Persistent discomfort with his or her sex or sense of
inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex.
In adolescents and adults, symptoms include
preoccupation with getting rid of primary and secondary
sex characteristics (e.g., request for hormones, surgery,
or other procedures to physically alter sexual
characteristics) or belief that he or she was born the
wrong sex.
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In children, manifested by any of the following:
In boys, assertion that his penis or testes are disgusting
or will disappear or assertion that it would be better not
to have a penis, or aversion toward rough-and-tumble
play and rejection of male stereotypical toys, games,
and activities.
In girls, rejection of urinating in a sitting position,
assertion that she has or will grow a penis, or assertion
that she does not want to grow breasts or menstruate,
or marked aversion toward normative feminine clothing.
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C. The disturbance is not concurrent with physical intersex
condition.
D. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or
impairment in social, occupational, or other important
areas of functioning.
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• There are no recent epidemiological studies on the
prevalence of GID in North America.
• European data indicate that roughly 1/30,000 adult
males and 1/100,000 adult females seek sex
reassignment surgery.
• Clinical samples indicate that GID is more common
among biological males than females (5:1 in children,
3:1 in adults).
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• Treatment of GID in childhood may involve some
combination of behavioural therapy, psychoanalytic
therapy, parental counseling, and group therapy.
• Most children who are diagnosed with GID do not
exhibit symptoms of the disorder later in life.
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• Treatment of GID in adulthood may involve one, two,
or all three of the following elements: real-life
experience, hormone treatment, surgical sex
reassignment.
• Most adults who obtain sex reassignment indicate that
they are satisfied with the results at follow-up.
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Gender Identity Disorder
1. What is gender identity disorder? (continued)
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