Exploration of gender perceptions among adolescents

Gender expression and sexual identity are not always the same as the sex assigned at birth. Our objective was to explore gender perceptions among adolescents who attended a teaching hospital in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.

This was a cross-sectional study. An anonymous survey was administered to patients aged 13-20 years at the waiting room of the outpatient adolescent clinic between April and December 2019.

A total of 834adolescents completed the survey; their average age was 16.3 ± 2.3 years. Among them, 3.3% (2.9% females and 4.3% males) perceived their gender identity as different from their sex assigned at birth; 26% perceived their sexual orientation was not heteronormative; almost 10% experienced discrimination due to their sexual orientation; and this was associated with a non-heteronormative sexual orientation (p < 0.0001). Female adolescents kissed same sex persons on the mouth more often than male adolescents: 44.8% versus 19% (p < 0.0001).

In this population of adolescents, 3.3% perceived their gender identity was different from their sex assigned at birth and 26% had a non-heteronormative sexual orientation.