Gender Spectrum Voice Inventory: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Purpose: Gender affirming voice therapy (GAVT) for transgender and nonbinary people, for some, is a vital step to gaining confidence and satisfaction with one's gender presentation. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) guide these individuals through this process through skilled voice evaluation and therapy. There are currently scarce validated clinical assessments for transgender men or nonbinary people seeking GAVT. This was a pilot study to trial the Gender Spectrum Voice Inventory (GSVI), a comprehensive gender affirming voice assessment created by the researchers to fill this gap in available clinical tools. A comparable assessment does not exist currently in the field. Method: This study used a mixed-methods design. SLP participants administered the GSVI to four transgender feminine clients and completed a survey afterwards. It is a future goal to expand the researched population for the GSVI to people across the gender spectrum. The deidentified test data were analyzed by the researchers for potential trends. The desired outcomes were to determine if the GSVI had possible indications of face validity and if SLPs administering the test perceived it to be a comprehensive and effective assessment. Conclusions: Findings suggest the developed measure may have good face validity. Survey results were generally positive in the areas of the test's utility, effectiveness, and comprehensiveness, and areas were identified for improvement in the test's continued development. These results call for future trials of the GSVI, investigating its validity and establishing norms in the future, with clients across the gender spectrum and a larger sample size.