Last fall, the American Journal of Psychiatry published a report stating that the mental health of individuals who were transitioning to a different sex improved after surgery. That study has now been retracted.

CBN reports:

Last fall, the journal published the results of the study and found the surgeries improved patients’ mental health. But this week, the journal retracted its findings, saying a second look at the subject found no improvement.

When asked about how a prestigious journal incorrectly analyzes its data, Dr. Ryan Anderson, the Heritage Foundation’s William E. Simon senior research fellow in American Principles and Public Policy, told CBN News there may have been a preferred outcome for the study.

“Human error is a possibility here,” Anderson said. “But there’s also the possibility that there was a preferred outcome for the study. So that they wanted the study to say a certain thing. Obviously, we don’t know in this particular instance whether this was just an honest mistake or if this was motivated research, motivated reasoning to lead to a certain conclusion.”

READ: Prestigious Psychiatry Journal Retracts Findings, Admits Sex-Reassignment Surgery Didn’t Fix Mental Health

The Daily Mail recently reported on another study by researchers from the University of Cambridge. READ: Transgender people are up to six times more likely to be autistic than those whose gender identity corresponds with their birth sex, study shows