ABSTRACT
Cross-gender interests occur in both typical development and when developmental processes are disrupted. There are inconsistent data and significant controversy about the interpretation of existing research findings on the relationship between childhood Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and later sexual orientation. Childhood GID is a readily recognized syndrome characterized by persistent cross-gender fantasies and behaviour. The parents of children with GID have ongoing problems in affect regulation. Clinical studies of adolescents with extreme cross-gender behaviour have found a high incidence of peer-relation difficulties, depression, and suicidal behaviour. The child's construction of his/her gender identity is a slow and piecemeal process that is deeply rooted in the child's attachment relationships and will reflect the history of those relationships and its conflicts, including intergenerational conflicts. A different phenomenon involving cross-gender interests is sometimes observed in children who have a relatively well-established and positively affectively charged sense of their own gender identity.
