After adjustment, gender-referred adolescents were three to six times more likely to require psychiatric care than the control group.

A nationwide Finnish study of all under-23-year-old individuals referred to a gender clinic between 1996 and 2019, comprising 2,083 gender-referred youth, researchers found that, after adjustment, gender-referred adolescents were three to six times more likely to require psychiatric care than adolescents in the control group. This elevated level of psychiatric need persisted even when compared with matched peers, indicating substantially higher mental health service use among those referred to gender identity services.

Ruuska, S.-M., Tuisku, K., Holttinen, T., and Kaltiala, R. (2026). “Psychiatric Morbidity Among Adolescents and Young Adults Who Contacted Specialised Gender Identity Services in Finland in 1996–2019: A Register Study,” Acta Paediatrica: 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.70533.