Lisa Littman
Lisa Littman is an American physician and researcher. She became known for an article published in 2018 in the scientific journal PLOS One, when she was affiliated with Brown University. In it, she was the first to describe what she called rapid-onset gender dysphoria.
The main article on this subject is Littman 2018 — Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria.
What it is about
Littman asked parents to complete a questionnaire about children whose gender dysphoria, according to their parents, had started suddenly during or after puberty. Based on the responses, she suggested that peer groups and the internet might play a role. She later also published research involving people who had reversed their transition.
Reception and criticism
The article immediately drew considerable criticism, mainly because only parents were surveyed and they had been recruited through websites where concerned parents gathered. PLOS One had the paper reevaluated and published a corrected version in 2019. It states that the findings concern parents' observations and not a recognized diagnosis. Major professional organizations do not recognize the term and advise against its use in healthcare. Nevertheless, the hypothesis remains a permanent part of the scientific debate.
Background and study design
Littman had not previously published on gender dysphoria. The reason for the study was her observation that several teenagers from the same peer group identified as transgender within a short period of one another. The questionnaire was open from June 29 to October 12, 2016, and produced 256 usable responses. The call for participants was posted on three websites: 4thWaveNow, Transgender Trend, and Youth Trans Critical Professionals. The ethical review was conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Littman received no specific funding for the study. The figures can be found in the archive entry on the article itself.
After publication
Within two weeks of its publication, PLOS One announced a new review. Brown University removed the press release about the study from its own website that same day. In the corrected version of March 19, 2019, the title, abstract, introduction, discussion, and conclusion were rewritten; the results remained unchanged. In September 2018, the professional organization WPATH stated that the term is not recognized by any professional organization. A Canadian study by Bauer and colleagues involving 173 young people found no evidence of a distinct clinical phenomenon in 2021. Littman responded that the study used an incorrect definition. Since January 2021, she has been president of the Institute for Comprehensive Gender Dysphoria Research. Her website states that the term is not a formal diagnosis and that support for the hypothesis has increased since 2018. In 2026, clinical psychologist Kenneth Zucker reviewed the evidence again; see the discussion of that study. Her later research relates to the subject of detransition.