Measures Of Gender Identity Research Articles

Prevalence and Correlates of Suicidal Ideation Among Transgender Youth in California: Findings From a Representative, Population-Based Sample of High School Students

No representative population-based studies of youth in the United States exist on gender identity-related disparities in suicidal ideation or on factors that underlie this disparity. To address this, this study examined gender identity-related disparities in the prevalence of suicidal ideation; evaluated whether established psychosocial factors explained these disparities; and identified correlates of suicidal ideation among all youth and stratified by gender identity. Data were derived from the 2013 to 2015 California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS; N= 621,189) and a weighted subsample representative of the Californian student population (Biennial Statewide California Student Survey [CSS], N= 28,856). Prevalence of past 12-month self-reported suicidal ideation was nearly twice as high for transgender compared with non-transgender youth (33.73% versus 18.85%; χ2= 35.48, p< .001). In fully adjusted models within the representative sample, transgender youth had 2.99 higher odds (95% CI 2.25-3.98) of reporting past-year suicidal ideation compared with non-transgender youth. Among transgender youth, only depressive symptoms (adjusted odds ratio 5.44, 95% CI 1.81-16.38) and victimization (adjusted odds ratio 2.66, 95% CI 1.26-5.65) remained significantly associated with higher odds of suicidal ideation in fully adjusted models. In multiple mediation analyses, depression attenuated the association between gender identity and suicidal ideation by 17.95% and victimization by 14.71%. This study uses the first representative population-based sample of youth in the United States that includes a measurement of gender identity to report on gender identity-related disparities in suicidal ideation and to identify potential mechanisms underlying this disparity in a representative sample.

Measuring Sexual and Gender Minority Populations in Health Surveillance

Sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) are underrepresented and information about SGMs is difficult to locate in national health surveillance data, and this limits identification and resolution of SGM health disparities. It is also not known how measures of sexual orientation and transgender-inclusive gender identity in health surveillance compare with best practice recommendations. This article reviews and summarizes the publicly available, English language, large-scale, rigorously sampled, national, international, and regional data sources that include sexual orientation or transgender-inclusive gender identity and compares measures with best practice guidelines. A systematic review was undertaken of national, international, state, and regional health surveillance data sources. Data sources that measured sexual orientation or transgender-inclusive gender identity and met seven inclusion criteria were included. Forty-three publicly accessible national, international, and regional data sources included measures of sexual orientation and transgender-inclusive gender identity and health. For each data source, sampling design, sample characteristics, study years, survey questions, contact persons, and data access links are provided. Few data sources met best practice recommendations for SGM measurement: 14% measured all three dimensions of sexual orientation (identity, behavior, attraction) as recommended by the Sexual Minority Assessment Research Team. No data sources measured transgender-inclusive gender identity according to the Gender Identity in U.S. Surveillance-recommended two-step method of measuring sex assigned at birth and current gender identity. This article provides a much needed detailed summary of extant health surveillance data sources that can be used to inform research about health risks and disparities among SGM populations. Future recommendations are for more rigorous measurement and oversampling to advance what is known about SGM health disparities and guide development of interventions to reduce disparities.

A Dual Identity Approach for Conceptualizing and Measuring Children's Gender Identity.

The goal was to test a new dual identity perspective on gender identity by asking children (n=467) in three grades (Mage =5.7, 7.6, 9.5) to consider the relation of the self to both boys and girls. This change shifted the conceptualization of gender identity from one to two dimensions, provided insights into the meaning and measurement of gender identity, and allowed for revisiting ideas about the roles of gender identity in adjustment. Using a graphical measure to allow assessment of identity in young children and cluster analyses to determine types of identity, it was found that individual and developmental differences in how similar children feel to both genders, and these variations matter for many important personal and social outcomes.

Psychological Androgyny and Children’s Mental Health: A New Look with New Measures

We evaluated Bem’s (1981, 1993) thesis that psychological androgyny—perceiving the self to possess characteristics of both genders—is associated with healthy adjustment and minimal gender-polarizing cognition. Prior studies testing Bem’s ideas have yielded ambiguous results, mainly because self-perceptions of gender-typed attributes have been inferred narrowly from self-perceptions of expressive and instrumental personality traits. We administered measures of gender identity (self-perceived similarity to a gender) that more clearly capture self-perceptions of attributes typical of a gender, and we examined conjoint influences of same-gender typicality and other-gender typicality on children’s self-esteem, internalizing problems, felt pressure for gender differentiation, and sexist ideology. Two studies were conducted with ethnically/racially diverse samples of preadolescent children in the southeastern United States. In Study 1 (N = 305, M age = 10.8 years), androgynous children (i.e., children who saw themselves as similar to both genders) reported high self-esteem, evidenced few internalizing problems, and reported feeling little pressure for gender differentiation. In Study 2 (N = 236, M age = 11.3 years), androgynous boys reported few sexist beliefs. Children with other patterns of gender identity (e.g., high same-gender typicality coupled with low other-gender typicality) sometimes showed similar correlates, but each other pattern of gender identity was associated with poor adjustment or strong gender-differentiating cognition on at least one dependent variable whereas androgyny never was. Results support Bem’s thesis that persons who perceive themselves as possessing characteristics of both genders enjoy mental health advantages over those who perceive themselves as possessing characteristics of only one.

Multidimensional Gender Identity and Gender-Typed Relationship Styles in Adolescence

The present study was designed to examine the evidence for Bem’s (1981) proposal that strong identification with gender (felt typicality, felt contentedness, felt pressure) promotes restrictive gender-typing (i.e., a preoccupied relationship style for girls; avoidant relationship style for boys). Per a dimension-specific model, I hypothesized that felt typicality and felt contentedness discourage negative gender-atypical attributes, whereas felt pressure encourages gender-typical attributes and discourages gender-atypical ones, without regard for the valence of the attribute. Early adolescents (N = 144, 73 girls, 71 boys) in southeast England responded to self-report measures of gender identity and relationship styles towards the mother and a close friend twice; first in the Spring of the school year (Mage = 12.75 years at Time 1; Time 1 data are partly derived from Menon 2011) and again in the Fall of the next school year. In support of the dimension-specific model, felt typicality and felt contentedness were negatively associated with gender-atypical relationship styles, and felt pressure was positively associated with gender-typical styles at each time-point. Longitudinal associations showed that gender-atypical styles prospectively predicted lower felt typicality and contentedness over time. Further, girls with a gender-atypical avoidant style towards their mother increased in their discontentment with gender over time, but only when they also reported strong felt pressure for gender conformity. Results indicate that gender self-socialization is an important basis for identity development in adolescence.

National guidelines for the best practices in palliative and end-of-life care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender cancer patients and their families.

126 Background: A growing body of evidence indicates that LGBT communities are disproportionately affected by cancer due to higher rates of traditional risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol, non-inclusion in educational campaigns, and minority stress. Due to the exclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity measures in national oncology databases, there has been difficulty documenting the extent of healthcare disparities that exist for LGBT cancer patients. However, an increasing number of studies describe the experiences of LGBT patients and their families at the end of life. Although societal attitudes and legal protections are shifting, the existing literature clearly indicates that LGBT patients in palliative and end-of-life care settings encounter unique barriers to quality care. For example, LGBT individuals may distrust specific members of palliative care teams, such as a pastor because of past rejections by faith-based communities. Other barriers include high levels of familial rejection, fear of revealing minority status, and a lack of legal protection. Methods: In 2014 and 2015, a CDC-funded multidisciplinary expert panel met to develop the best practices across the cancer care continuum for the LGBT community. The experts drew on available literature and clinical and community experience. They reached a consensus regarding recommendations that were later reviewed using a process that elicited comments from providers, patients, and community and national organizations. Results: Recommendations were made in 7 domains: 1) cancer prevention, 2) cancer screening, 3) diagnosis, 4) treatment, 5) survivorship, 6) palliative and end-of-life care, and 7) public health. Here we report the panel’s recommendations for improving palliative and end-of-life care for LGBT cancer patients. Conclusions: The barriers for LGBT cancer patients to access quality palliative and end-of-life care exist, and the subsequent healthcare disparities are often invisible to healthcare providers. Implementation of these national recommendations will help eliminate the disparities that LGBT patients and their families experience when facing cancer.

Gender in Context: Considering Variability in Wood and Eagly’s Traditions of Gender Identity

This paper was written in response to Wood and Eagly’s (2015) feminist forum paper that proposes two traditions for gender identity research, a tradition based on gender-typed attributes and a tradition based on gender self-conceptualization. The present paper expands on Wood and Eagly’s (2015) framework by proposing, in line with social constructivist models, that both traditions of gender identity may be variable and context dependent. Specifically, the present paper reviews research conducted in the U.S.A. that suggests that gender-typed attributes and components of gender self-conceptualization may change based on contextual factors such as the gender of people in a person’s immediate context and the salience of gender in a given situation. The paper also reviews ways in which variation in gender-typed attributes and components of gender self-conceptualization has been measured previously, and suggests the use of experience sampling methodology for future research. Finally, the paper encourages researchers to consider Wood and Eagly’s (2015) suggestion of using the principle of compatibility when selecting trait or state measures of gender identity, and proposes that beliefs in gender essentialism (that gender differences are due to innate traits) may be reduced by understanding how contextual factors influence gender identity.

Bridging Multidimensional Models of Ethnic-Racial and Gender Identity Among Ethnically Diverse Emerging Adults.

The purpose of this study was to integrate and validate a multidimensional model of ethnic-racial identity and gender identity borrowing constructs and measures based on social identity and gender identity theories. Participants included 662 emerging adults (M age =19.86years; 75% female) who self-identified either as Asian American, Latino/a, or White European American. We assessed the following facets separately for ethnic-racial identity and gender identity: centrality, in-group affect, in-group ties, self-perceived typicality, and felt conformity pressure. Within each identity domain (gender or ethnicity/race), the five dimensions generally indicated small-to-moderate correlations with one another. Also, correlations between domains for each dimension (e.g., gender typicality and ethnic-racial typicality) were mostly moderate in magnitude. We also noted some group variations based on participants' ethnicity/race and gender in how strongly particular dimensions were associated with self-esteem. Finally, participants who scored positively on identity dimensions for both gender and ethnic-racial domains indicated higher self-esteem than those who scored high in only one domain or low in both domains. We recommend the application of multidimensional models to study social identities in multiple domains as they may relate to various outcomes during development.

Math achievement, stereotypes, and math self-concepts among elementary-school students in Singapore

Singaporean elementary-school students (N = 299) completed Child Implicit Association Tests (Child IAT) as well as explicit measures of gender identity, math–gender stereotypes, and math self-concepts. Students also completed a standardized math achievement test. Three new findings emerged. First, implicit, but not explicit, math self-concepts (math = me) were positively related to math achievement on a standardized test. Second, as expected, stronger math–gender stereotypes (math = boys) significantly correlated with stronger math self-concepts for boys and weaker math self-concepts for girls, on both implicit and explicit measures. Third, implicit math–gender stereotypes were significantly related to math achievement. These findings show that non-academic factors such as implicit math self-concepts and stereotypes are linked to students' actual math achievement. The findings suggest that measuring individual differences in non-academic factors may be a useful tool for educators in assessing students' academic outcomes.

Gender Identity, Gender-Typed Personality Traits and School Bullying: Victims, Bullies and Bully-Victims

Previous research has indicated that gender identity is related to children’s adjustment and well-being. In the current study, involvement in school bullying was our indicator of well-being, and we tested how gender identity and gender typing measures are related to victims, bullies and bully-victims. The relations between these variables were examined with a sample of Spanish 10–12 year-old schoolchildren (n = 445). Multinomial regression analyses examined the associations among these three roles in bullying with four measures of gender identity (gender typicality, gender contentment, felt pressure, and intergroup bias) and two measures of gender typing (masculine and feminine personality traits). The results revealed that victimization is associated with low gender typicality and also with feminine traits, while perpetration is related with felt pressure to gender conformity and masculine traits. Bully-victim involvement is associated with lack of gender contentedness and masculine traits. These findings suggest that perceiving self as being a typical member of the same sex group is a protective factor for victimization, whereas felt pressure to conform to the cultural stereotypes about gender, self-attribution of masculine traits and lack of satisfaction with one’s gender are risk factors for perpetration. Implications for practice are discussed.

Queering gender: studying gender identity in ‘normative’ individuals

In contemporary psychology, normal development is contingent on the establishment of a coherent, universal, stable and unitary ‘core gender identity’. The present study assessed the perception of gender identity in ‘normative’ individuals in Israel using the newly constructed Multi-Gender Identity Questionnaire (Multi-GIQ). The Multi-GIQ includes 32 items assessing gender identity (Feeling like a woman, Feeling like a man, Feeling like both a man and a woman, Feeling like neither), gender dysphoria (Contentment with affirmed gender and the wish to be the ‘other’ gender, Contentment with one’s sexed body) and gender performance (Compliance with gender norms in clothing and language). Of the Men (n = 570) and Women (n = 1585) that participated in the study, over 35% felt to some extent as the ‘other’ gender, as both men and women and/or as neither. Although such feelings were more prevalent and on average stronger in Queers (n = 70), the range of scores for all measures of gender identity was highly similar in Queers and non-Queers. A similar pattern was obtained for measures of gender dysphoria and gender performance. Sexual orientation was not a major contributor to the perception of gender identity in both Men and Women. We discuss our results in view of the current debate around the terminology and diagnostic criteria of gender dysphoria (a substitutive category for Gender Identity Disorder) in DSM-V. We conclude that the current view of gender identity as binary and unitary does not reflect the experience of many individuals, and call for a new conceptualisation of gender, which relates to multiplicity and fluidity in the experience of gender.

Exploring sexual harassment and related attitudes in Beninese high schools: a field study

Sexual harassment severely impacts the educational system in the West African country Benin and the progress of women in this society that is characterized by great gender inequality. Knowledge of the belief systems rooting in the sociocultural context is crucial to the understanding of sexual harassment. However, no study has yet investigated how sexual harassment is related to fundamental beliefs in Benin or West African countries. We conducted a field study on 265 female and male students from several high schools in Benin to investigate the link between sexual harassment and measures of ambivalent sexism, gender identity, and rape myth acceptance. Almost half of the sample reported having experienced sexual harassment personally or among peers. Levels of sexism and rape myth acceptance were very high compared to other studies. These attitudes appeared to converge in a sexist belief system that was linked to personal experiences, the perceived probability of experiencing and fear of sexual harassment. Results suggest that sexual harassment is a societal problem and that interventions need to address fundamental attitudes held in societies low in gender equality.

Negative attributes are gendered too: Conceptualizing and measuring positive and negative facets of sex‐role identity

AbstractMeasures of gender identity have almost exclusively relied on positive aspects of masculinity and femininity, although conceptually the self‐concept is not limited to positive attributes. A theoretical argument is made for considering negative attributes of gender identity, followed by five studies developing the Positive–Negative Sex‐Role Inventory (PN‐SRI) as a new measure of gender identity. Study 1 demonstrated that many of the attributes of a German version of the Bem Sex‐Role Inventory are no longer considered to differ in desirability for men and women. For the PN‐SRI, Study 2 elicited attributes characterizing men and women in today's society, for which ratings of typicality and desirability as well as self‐ratings by men and women were obtained in Study 3. Study 4 examined the reliability and factorial structure of the four subscales of positive and negative masculinity and femininity and demonstrated the construct and discriminant validity of the PN‐SRI by showing that the negative masculinity and femininity scales were unique predictors of select validation constructs. Study 5 showed that the new instrument explained variance in the validation constructs beyond earlier measures of gender identity.Key message: Even in the construction of negative aspects of gender identity, individuals prefer gender‐congruent attributes. Negative masculinity and femininity make a unique contribution to understanding gender‐related differences in psychological outcome variables. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

LBO-1.3 Syphilis infection and associated behaviours among transgender women, Chicago 2010

BackgroundTransgender women are an underserved and understudied population with unique medical and behavioural risk profiles. High rates of STIs and HIV in this population have been reported, although accurately quantifying...

Gender identity, research self‐efficacy and research intention in trainee clinical psychologists in the UK

This study tested, with a sample of United Kingdom (UK) trainee clinical psychologists, part of an existing model of factors that influence clinical psychologists' levels of research activity, in which gender identity is hypothesized to influence research self-efficacy and this in turn strength of intention to do research. A sample of 121 trainee clinical psychologists (56 men and 65 women) completed a measure of gender identity, research intention, and a research self-efficacy scale. Results indicated no differences in levels of research intention or research self-efficacy between the biological sexes or according to category-based gender identities (masculine and feminine). However, masculinity as a scale quantity was statistically significantly related to stronger research intention, preference for conducting quantitative research and research self-efficacy. Multiple regression analysis provided evidence that research self-efficacy may mediate between masculinity and strength of research intention. Research self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of intention to do research in the future. Findings have relevance for clinical psychology training as research activity directly impacts upon advances in the discipline of clinical psychology, implementation of research into practice, and evaluation of psychological therapies.

Faking of the Implicit Association Test Is Statistically Detectable and Partly Correctable

Male and female participants were instructed to produce an altered response pattern on an Implicit Association Test measure of gender identity by slowing performance in trials requiring the same response to stimuli designating own gender and self. Participants' faking success was found to be predictable by a measure of slowing relative to unfaked performances. This combined task slowing (CTS) indicator was then applied in reanalyses of three experiments from other laboratories, two involving instructed faking and one involving possibly motivated faking. Across all studies involving instructed faking, CTS correctly classified 75% of intentionally faking participants. Using the CTS index to adjust faked Implicit Association Test scores increased the correlation of CTS-adjusted measures with known group membership, relative to unadjusted (i.e., faked) measures.

The Impact of Gender on Binge Drinking Behavior Among U.S. College Students Attending a Midwestern University: An Analysis of Two Gender Measures

Using a critical feminist framework, the authors examine the relationship between gender role orientation and binge drinking among college students. Two measures of gender identity are employed: The Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. The authors test the hypothesis that traditional masculine gender role orientation is predictive of contemporary binge drinking behavior among college students. Gender role orientation, as measured by each scale (independently and combined), has a significant impact on drinking. Masculine gender identity is a significant predictor of binge drinking while controlling for respondent’s sex. Binge drinking and its implications are discussed in the context of alcohol-related crime and victimization.

The Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults: Further Validity Evidence

This study aimed to provide further validity evidence for the dimensional measurement of gender identity and gender dysphoria in both adolescents and adults. Adolescents and adults with gender identity disorder (GID) were compared to clinical control (CC) adolescents and adults on the Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults (GIDYQ–AA), a 27-item scale originally developed by Deogracias et al. (2007). In Study 1, adolescents with GID (n = 44) were compared to CC adolescents (n = 98); and in Study 2, adults with GID (n = 41) were compared to CC adults (n = 94). In both studies, clients with GID self-reported significantly more gender dysphoria than did the CCs, with excellent sensitivity and specificity rates. In both studies, degree of self-reported gender dysphoria was significantly correlated with recall of cross-gender behavior in childhood—a test of convergent validity. The research and clinical utility of the GIDYQ–AA is discussed, including directions for further research in distinct clinical populations.

“Everyone Has a Right to, Like, Check Their Box:” Findings on a Measure of Gender Identity from a Cognitive Testing Study with Adolescents

Efforts to monitor the health of transgender youth, a small but high-risk population, are hindered by a lack of knowledge about how to accurately measure gender identity. Adolescents (n = 30) participated in semistructured qualitative interviews after completing a close-ended transgender-inclusive measure of gender. Interviews explored item comprehension and respondent burden. Participants, who were diverse in age (range = 15-21), gender identity, sexual orientation, and race-ethnicity, were accurately classified as male, female, or transgender. All youth understood transgender as a difference between the physical body and a person's internal sense of self. Nontransgender youth frequently used an example (a woman in a man's body) in their explanations and were largely supportive of the transgender options. Most transgender youth found a response option that they felt was appropriate. Transgender response options were added to a gender measure without impacting the accuracy of nontransgender responses or burdening the nontransgender adolescents in our sample. A modified measure (Gender: male; female; transgender, male-to-female; transgender, female-to-male; transgender, do not identify as exclusively male or female) is recommended for testing in samples that vary by age, race-ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language, and geography. Additional suggestions for research in this area are provided.

T04-P-01 Sex reassignment: comparing expert reports

The present study draws from a previous research conducted in several Italian Courts. The present research explores how the expert reports are conducted on the sex reassignment. The Italian law 164/82 on the sex reassignment provides that the judge, where he considers appropriate, set an expert report. The expert can use several tools on the basis of his/her professional background. Objective The aim of this study is to highlight which psychological tests are used during the expert reports and to relate them with the different experts. For this aim Courts where request for sex reassignments were chosen and, in particular, those Courts where an expert report was present. Finally, the association between type of surgical interventionand type of test was examined. Design and method Archivial data collection was used. Commited Courts were identified as well as different experts who reported the assessment along with instruments adopted. Results Corrispondence analysis showed a different pattern of association among the several test and practitioners. The first dimension discriminated general personality tests from those specific, as well as psychiatrists and forensic scientist from psychologist. The second dimension separated qualitatively general personality tests from those with psychopatological framework. Conclusions Psychologists, forensic scientist and psychiatrists showed different profiles in using psychological tests for the issue. The analysis of spatial configuration highlighted that forensic scientist use more of psychopatological personality tests. Instead, psychiatrists seemed to use more general tests. Finally, psychologists, seemed to use more specific instruments related with the measurement of gender identity.