Long-awaited study finds puberty blockers have little impact on mental health of trans-identified youth
June 10, 2025
A long-awaited study by a leading proponent of so-called “gender-affirming care” appears to confirm that the use of puberty-blocking drugs on youth with gender dysphoria seems to have no statistically significant positive impact on depression rates.
The Christian Post reports that the advocacy group Genspect published a post on X last week highlighting that “the long-suppressed Olson-Kennedy study on puberty blockers is finally out.”
Puberty blockers are often prescribed to children dealing with gender dysphoria as a way to prevent their natural puberty from taking place.
The study make headlines last year when Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, a proponent of gender transition procedures for minors, admitted that she withheld the results of the research for political reasons.
Olson-Kennedy told the New York Times last year, “I do not want our work to be weaponized,” and voiced concern that it “could be used in court to argue that ‘we shouldn’t use blockers.'”
The two-year study examined the mental health of 94 youth suffering from gender dysphoria, at six month intervals, after they first began taking puberty-blockers.
The study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, concluded that, “Self-reported depression symptoms did not change significantly over the 2-year follow-up period in both the conditional and unconditional growth models.”
According to the Christian Post, around two dozen states have banned trans-identified youth from obtaining puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones due to concerns about their long-term impact.
The American College of Pediatricians lists possible side effects of puberty-blockers as “osteoporosis, mood disorders, seizures, cognitive impairment and, when combined with cross-sex hormones, sterility.”
In a post reacting to the study, Genspect reported that the results show “no significant improvement in depression, emotional health, or parent-reported behavior.”
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