Variables Related to Behavioral and Emotional Problems and Gender Typed Behaviors in Female Patients with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

We investigated the effects of type of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), treatment, endocrinological, surgical, and socio-demographic factors as well as patients' body perception on the gender-typed play and behavioral and emotional problems in female children with CAH. The sample included 28 females with CAH (mean age: 12.6 years). We compared patients with CAH to 28 age-matched patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus and 28 healthy controls. Patients with CAH had significantly higher externalization and total problems scores and were less interested in typically female behaviors. The behavioral and emotional problems in patients with CAH were associated with patient satisfaction with the appearance of their genitalia, the surgeons' assessment of the success of the surgical procedures, and mean testosterone level. Our results showed the severity of the behavioral and emotional problems was associated with severity of androgenization, patients' perception of their genitalia and the surgical outcome.