La disforia di genere in età pediatrica e adolescenziale

While the sex of an individual refers to his/her genetic and anatomical characteristics, gender concerns the perception of oneself, personal and private, as belonging to the male or female gender, to both or neither. Generally gender perception between 3 and 7 years of age. Gender incongruence is defined by the absence of concordance between these two aspects, while gender dysphoria refers to the psychological distress that can follow. The number of children and adolescents showing gender incongruence is increasing and poses problems of diagnosis and treatment. Providing care requires the presence of a multidisciplinary team made up of expert professionals trained in this field, which should include neurospichiatrists, psychologists and pediatric endocrinologists. Pharmacological therapy, that follows a phase of psychotherapy, should be started in puberty and is preliminary to subsequent therapeutic interventions; the latter ones are prerogative of adulthood. A careful multidisciplinary follow-up is needed for these patients until adulthood.