The Process of Understanding and Experience of Parents of Children with Sexual Dissatisfaction: A Qualitative Study with a Grounded Theory Approach

People with gender dysphoria have a noticeable discrepancy between their assigned gender and their experienced/expressed gender. This study aims to know the understanding and experience of parents of people with gender dysphoria about their child's condition.

With the available sampling method, interviews were conducted with 15 parents of gender dysphoria referred to Ibn Sina Hospital in Mashhad in 2019. Strauss and Corbin method was used for data analysis. A semi-structured interview was conducted. MAXQDA software was used to organize and code qualitative data.

In total, 15 interviews and 121 conceptual codes were extracted. About 58% of children with gender identity disorder were girls. The average age of these people at the time of participation in the study was 24 years, the mean age since deciding to perform surgery was 21 years, and the average age of onset of symptoms in childhood was 9 years. The findings obtained in this study, in six central categories with the titles as follows: parents' experience since the childhood of a child suffering from gender dysphoria, unusual behaviors observed in adolescence of a person with gender dysphoria from the perspective of parents, parents' feelings, parents' misbehavior, the causes of this from the parents' point of view, the problem with the individual's own experience of gender identity disorder.

Considering the expression of parents' experiences and knowledge of the many challenges between families and children in this regard, in order to improve the quality of life and improve the mental health of people suffering from gender dysphoria, the need for educational interventions at general and specialized levels seems necessary.