The Gender Self-Report: A multidimensional gender characterization tool for gender-diverse and cisgender youth and adults.

Abstract

Gender identity is a core component of human experience, critical to account for in broad health, development, psychosocial research, and clinical practice. Yet, the psychometric characterization of gender has been impeded due to challenges in modeling the myriad gender self-descriptors, statistical power limitations related to multigroup analyses, and equity-related concerns regarding the accessibility of complex gender terminology. Therefore, this initiative employed an iterative multi-community-driven process to develop the Gender Self-Report (GSR), a multidimensional gender characterization tool, accessible to youth and adults, nonautistic and autistic people, and gender-diverse and cisgender individuals. In Study 1, the GSR was administered to 1,654 individuals, sampled through seven diversified recruitments to be representative across age (10–77 years), gender and sexuality diversity (∼33% each gender diverse, cisgender sexual minority, cisgender heterosexual), and autism status (>33% autistic). A random half-split subsample was subjected to exploratory factor analytics, followed by confirmatory analytics in the full sample. Two stable factors emerged: Nonbinary Gender Diversity and Female–Male Continuum (FMC). FMC was transformed to Binary Gender Diversity based on designated sex at birth to reduce collinearity with designated sex at birth. Differential item functioning by age and autism status was employed to reduce item–response bias. Factors were internally reliable. Study 2 demonstrated the construct, convergent, and ecological validity of GSR factors. Of the 30 hypothesized validation comparisons, 26 were confirmed. The GSR provides a community-developed gender advocacy tool with 30 self-report items that avoid complex gender-related “insider” language and characterize diverse populations across continuous multidimensional binary and nonbinary gender traits.

Polygenic Scores Clarify the Relationship Between Mental Health and Gender Diversity

“…The Research Match was approved by the University of Iowa Institutional Review Board (#201611784). Those who consented to participate were asked to complete the GSR ( 25 ), ASR ( 24 ), and additional questions on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. The sample size was 818.…”

“…The GSR item set was developed through an iterative multi-input, community-driven process with autistic cisgender, autistic gender-diverse, and nonautistic cisgender and gender-diverse collaborators ( 25 ); Open Science Framework Development Summary: https://osf.io/qh25d/?view_only=c0ce41d07bca4af1b792e074d51b7ded . The final GSR item set was composed of 30 questions.…”

“…The GSR factor analysis and generation of binary and nonbinary factor scores are described in Strang et al. ( 25 ). In the genetic sample of N = 696, GSR scores were adjusted for age, sex designated at birth, and autism by linear regression residualization and then z scaled.…”

“…The first, the Adult Self-Report (ASR) ( 24 ), measures several mental health outcomes and adaptive behaviors. The second, the Gender Self-Report (GSR) ( 25 ), captures 2 quantitative dimensions of gender diversity: binary gender diversity, which is the extent to which a person experiences themselves as the other binary gender (i.e., different from their sex designated at birth), and nonbinary gender diversity, which is the extent to which a person experiences themselves as neither female nor male. Then we sought to answer the following questions: first, are ASR scores phenotypically associated with GSR scores?…”

How autistic adults’ priorities for autism research differ by gender identity: A mixed-methods study

“…Researchers and self-advocates have called for a better understanding of gender within the autism population, particularly as one’s assigned sex at birth and perceived gender interact with each other and shape lived experiences from a young age. 19 , 20 This is particularly notable within the autism population, as children who are assigned female at birth and subsequently socialized as girls may exhibit different traits that make up what is commonly referred to as the “female autism phenotype.” 21 – 23 These differences can make autism more difficult to recognize and ultimately diagnose autism in girls and other children who do not conform to male gender norms, creating a “male bias” in diagnostic assessments. 24 , 25 Research suggests that even if school-age girls present with classic “male autism traits,” teachers and others around them still have difficulty associating these traits with autism.…”