Assessing Gender Dysphoria Tendencies in Adolescents: A Scale Development and Psychometric Properties in Pakistani Adolescents

Background: Although gender dysphoria is becoming more widely recognized, there are still very few reliable psychometric instruments available to evaluate its prevalence in Pakistani adolescents. By developing an indigenous culturally relevant scale to assess gender dysphoria tendencies in adolescents and assessing its validity and reliability this study fills this gap. Objectives: The objective of this current study is to develop a scale on Gender Dysphoria Tendencies in adolescents. Methods: This survey based Cross-sectional study was carried out at the Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Management and Technology Lahore Pakistan over six months from 5 March 2022 to 21 September 2022. Initially, 42 items were generated by a semi-structured open-ended interview with 20 participants (10 boys and 10 girls) with the age range 15-19 years. After validating the content, a pilot study was carried out on a self-report measure of gender dysphoria. The sample consisted of 10 participants, with 5 boys and 5 girls. In the end, 350 participants (50% boys, 50% girls) aged 15- 19 (M=17.34, SD=1.26) were tested using the Gender Dysphoria Tendency Scale (GDTS) to assess psychometric properties. The Gender Dysphoria Tendency Scale (GDTS) was analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis, which resulted in the generation of two factors. i.e., Gender Dissatisfaction and Body Image. Results: The GDTS demonstrated good reliability and validity, as well as good internal consistency and construct validity. Factorial structures are discussed within the context of Pakistani culture to gain a deeper understanding of the findings. Conclusion: This study contributed to understanding gender dysphoria tendencies and how they are prevailing in adolescents in Pakistani culture.