EXCLUSIVE: NIH-Funded Study Finds Puberty Blockers Failed to Improve Youth Mental Health

A taxpayer-funded study of children and young adults taking puberty blockers and hormone treatments found no improvement in youth mental health.

The Oversight Project, a watchdog group, obtained the final report of “The Impact of Early Medical Treatment in Transgender Youth” and shared it with the Daily Signal.

The National Institutes of Health first allocated a nine-year grant for up to $10 million for the study through the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. The study was led by Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, who specializes in“gender-affirming care.”

The study included people as young as 8 years old. The sample receiving puberty blockers included participants up to age 16, while the sample receiving hormone treatments included participants up to age 20.

“Over 2 years of medical intervention that started with blockers, mental health remained relatively stable and was on par with the population at large,” the final report says. “These youth showed no worsening of their mental or emotional health and suicidality decreased from baseline to 24 months. Mean scores on mental health measures remain stable in a clinically non-significant range over two years.”

The longstanding argument for advocates of “transing” minors has been that not doing so could cause depression or suicide among youth.

The report’s release has been long awaited. The New York Times first reported in late 2024 that the study of almost 100 children would not be published because Olson-Kennedy feared the findings would be “weaponized.”

The report said that “at baseline, about half of these youths had clinically concerning scores for depression and anxiety. About two-thirds reported having thoughts of suicide, and about one-quarter reported having attempted suicide.”

Though it added that two years showed “increased scores for life satisfaction,” and decreased levels of depression and anxiety.

“The argument has been that this improves mental health,” Dr. Kurt Miceli, the chief medical officer at Do No Harm, which opposes gender changes for children, said. “… The narrative by advocates has been that this is life-saving treatment.”

He noted that a separate 2023 New England Journal of Medicine article referenced two minors observed in a study who committed suicide.

The recently released study noted that “Denominator for retention (expected visits) does not include participants who withdrew consent, passed away, or have not reached the end of their extended follow-up window.” But it does not say how the youths “passed away,” Miceli noted.

“Two suicides were reported in a previous study, but downplayed,” Miceli said. “It’s important for science and important to patients to know.”

Oversight Project Director of State Litigation Neal Cornett said the report confirms what most already know, which is that “treating troubled youth with puberty blockers and hormone treatments does nothing to improve their mental health.”

“As a country, we should err on the side of caution before embarking on this type of medical intervention with minors,” Cornett told the Daily Signal.

Notably, it was an observational study, so the procedures involving participants as young as 8 years old were not conducted as a result of NIH funding.

The study also found potential affects on youth bone density, reproductive health, and height. Further, the researchers noted they sought “additional youth of color” to precipitate in the study.

The Oversight Project contends the release of the documents is a good first step, but the public should know more about the “Transgender Industrial Complex” and the medical impacts it’s having on children and adolescents.