The Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults

Abstract

The present study reports on the construction of a dimensional measure of gender identity (gender dysphoria) for adolescents and adults. The 27-item gender identity/gender dysphoria questionnaire for adolescents and adults (GIDYQ-AA) was administered to 389 university students (heterosexual and nonheterosexual) and 73 clinic-referred patients with gender identity disorder. Principal axis factor analysis indicated that a one-factor solution, accounting for 61.3% of the total variance, best fits the data. Factor loadings were all ≥ .30 (median, .82; range, .34–.96). A mean total score (Cronbach's alpha, .97) was computed, which showed strong evidence for discriminant validity in that the gender identity patients had significantly more gender dysphoria than both the heterosexual and nonheterosexual university students. Using a cut-point of 3.00, we found the sensitivity was 90.4% for the gender identity patients and specificity was 99.7% for the controls. The utility of the GIDYQ-AA is discussed.

This study was supported by funds provided by the North American Task Force on Intersexuality (NATFI). We thank Dr. Ian A. Aaronson, Chairman of NATFI, for his support of this research, and Drs. Sheri A. Berenbaum and William G. Reiner for their assistance in item development. We also thank Dr. Robert Dickey, Head of the Adult Gender Identity Clinic at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and Maxine Petersen, M.A., for their support. Earlier versions of this article were presented at the meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research, Helsinki, Finland (June 2004) and Ottawa, Canada (July 2005).

Notes

^a Categories included Black, First Nations, Hispanic or Latino, and other.

Note. See the Appendix for the exact wording of each item.

¹Factor analyses also were performed separately by biological sex. Both factor analyses also identified one-factor solutions that accounted for 59.0% and 63.5% of the variance for males and females, respectively (factor loadings are available from the corresponding author upon request)

Note. Absolute range, 1.00–5.00.

^a Reference group was the heterosexual men and calculated as M₁ − M₂/SD_{heterosexual men}.

^b Reference group was the heterosexual women and calculated as M₁ − M₂/SD_{heterosexual women}.