title: Gender identity and gender role orientation in female assigned patients with disorders of sex development.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Gender identity and gender role orientation were assessed in 24 female assigned patients with disorders of sex development.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 16 patients were prenatally exposed to androgens, of whom 15 had congenital adrenal hyperplasia and 1 was virilized due to maternal tumor. Eight patients had 46,XY karyotype, of whom 5 had partial and 3 had complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. Gender identity was measured by the 27-item Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults with 167 female medical students as controls, and gender role was assessed by the femininity and masculinity subscales of the 30-item Bem Sex Role Inventory with 104 female and 64 male medical students as controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No patient reached the cutoff for gender identity disorder on the Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults. However, patients with 46,XY karyotype demonstrated a somewhat more conflicted gender identity, although the overall differences were relatively small. As to gender role orientation, patients with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome had high scores on the femininity and masculinity scales of the Bem Sex Role Inventory, which made them the most androgynous group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings, although clinically not clear cut, suggest that patients with disorders of sex development are a heterogeneous group regarding gender identity and gender role outcomes, and that this issue should be discussed with the family when treatment plans are made.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere and Gender Identity Unit, Department of Adult Psychiatry, University Hospital of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Aino K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mattila
authors.forename: Riitta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fagerholm
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Santtila
authors.forename: Päivi J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Miettinen
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taskinen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000312:Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D013734:Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome / Q000523:psychology*; D012734:Disorders of Sex Development / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult