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Guerrero-Fernandez, JulioAuthor

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December 14, 2025
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Is there a biological component in gender identity?

Publicated to: Anales De Pediatría. 103 (1): 503883- - 2025-07-01 103(1), DOI: 10.1016/j.anpedi.2025.503883

Authors:

Fernandez, Natalia S; Fernandez, Natalia S; Fernandez, Rosa; Gomez-Balaguer, Marcelino; Mora, Mireia; Guerrero-Fernandez, Julio; Moral-Martos, Amadora
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Affiliations

Ctr Interdisciplinar Quim Biol, CICA, La Coruna, Spain - Author
Equipo Terr Atenc Pediat Garraf, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Grp Trabajo Gonadas Ident & Diferenciac Sexual Soc, Alicante, Spain - Author
Hosp Clin Barcelona, Inst Invest August Pi i Sunyer IDIBAPS, Dept Endocrinol & Nutr, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Hosp Infantil La Paz, Serv Endocrinol Pediat, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Doctor Peset, Serv Endocrinol & Nutr, Unidad Ident Genero, Valencia, Spain - Author
Inst Catala Salut, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona, Dept Med, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Complutense Madrid, Fac Vet, Dept Prod Anim, Madrid, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Introduction: Gender identity is each person's internal sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither, or anywhere along the gender spectrum, which may (cisgender) or may not (transgender) coincide with the sex assigned at birth. The multiple difficulties experienced by transgender individuals constitutes a risk factor for mood disorders and self-harming behaviors. However, knowledge about biological influences on gender identity development has the potential to reduce the stigmatization of gender minorities. Materials and methods: We conducted a literature review of the available literature on the biological basis of gender identity, summarizing the main scientific evidence in the field in addition to its limitations. Results: A growing body of research supports that the broad spectrum that characterizes gender identity constitutes a multifactorial trait with a heritable component. At the neuroanatomical level, this model translates to the high variability observed in the degree of masculinization/feminization of different features within a single brain, with considerable overlap between different gender identities at the individual level. Hence, neither genetic variants nor neuroanatomic measures can be used to identify or predict an individual's gender identity. Conclusion: The evolutionary advantage of sexual reproduction lies in the huge increase in variation produced among individuals. The continuous distribution of gender identities in the population appears to be just one more aspect of sexual reproduction as a source of variability. (c) 2025 Asociacion Espanola de Pediatr& imath;a. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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Keywords

Complex traitDysphoriaGender incongruenceGender minoritiesHeritablePolygenicSexual orientationTransgender

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Anales de Pediatría due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 61/191, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Pediatrics. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q3 para la agencia Scopus (SJR) en la categoría Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-04-04:

  • WoS: 1
  • Scopus: 1
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-04:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 6.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 11 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 14.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 11 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Additionally, the work has been submitted to a journal classified as Diamond in relation to this type of editorial policy.
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