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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1448693
This article is part of the Research Topic Breaking Barriers in LGBT+ Health: Innovations and Insights View all 4 articles

Development and Validation of the Transgender Adolescent Stress Survey-Minority Stress (TASS-MS)

Provisionally accepted
Jeremy T. Goldbach Jeremy T. Goldbach 1*Sheree M. Schrager Sheree M. Schrager 2Jules K. Wood Jules K. Wood 1Rory P. O'Brien Rory P. O'Brien 3Shannon L. Dunlap Shannon L. Dunlap 4Harmony Rhoades Harmony Rhoades 1
  • 1 Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
  • 2 California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, California, United States
  • 3 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
  • 4 University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: This study aimed to create and validate a novel measure of gender-related minority stress in transgender and nonbinary adolescents (TNBA). TNBA face higher risks of varied behavioral health concerns compared to their cisgender peers, a disparity often attributed to the presence of minority stress due to discrimination. To date, no comprehensive measures of gender-related minority stress exist for use with TNBA.Method: The present study recruited a U.S. national sample (N = 444, aged 12-17; 65.5% White, 9.5% Black, 9.5% Latine, 15.5% other ethnicity; 34.7% transmasculine, 17.3% transfeminine, 38.3% nonbinary, 9.5% agender) of TNBA. An initial item pool was developed from life history calendars, a modified Delphi process, and cognitive interviews with TNBA. Analytic methods including principal components analysis, item response theory, measurement invariance testing, and reliability analyses were conducted to establish the final scale. Concurrent validity was established across behavioral outcomes (mental health, suicidal thoughts and behavior, substance use), and convergent and divergent validity compared the Transgender Adolescent Stress Survey-Minority Stress (TASS-MS) to existing measures of gender-related minority stress.Results: The TASS-MS and its subscales (disaffirmation, visibility and internalized transnegativity, family) were significantly associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms, PTSD symptoms, suicidal behaviors, nonsuicidal self-injury, marijuana, and prescription drug use. The TASS-MS was moderately and weakly correlated with convergent and divergent measures, respectively, indicating specificity to minority stress. Conclusions: The TASS-MS is a reliable and valid measure for future research with TNBA. It is inclusive and usable by all gender minority adolescents, uses a standard simple scoring system, and assesses adolescent-specific stressors.

    Keywords: transgender adolescents1, nonbinary adolescents2, minority stress3, behavioral health4, measure development (psychometrics)

    Received: 13 Jun 2024; Accepted: 06 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Goldbach, Schrager, Wood, O'Brien, Dunlap and Rhoades. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jeremy T. Goldbach, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, 63130, Missouri, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.