Mental health assessment of transgender youth - Should standardised psychological measures be scored by norms of birth-registered sex?

Standardised psychometric measures are used in mental health care and research settings to identify risk, assist diagnosis, and assess symptom severity. Standardised scoring of these measures involves transforming respondents' raw scores using binary sex norms. However, scoring manuals offer no guidance as to appropriate scoring methods for trans and non-binary respondents.

Citation:
Saunders LA, Cavve BS, Thomas CS, Strauss P, Mahfouda S, van Hall HW, et al. A. Mental health assessment of transgender youth - Should standardised psychological measures be scored by norms of birth-registered sex? J Psychiatr Res. 2025;182:513-21

Keywords:
Adolescent; Gender diverse; Gender dysphoria; Measurement; Mental health; Psychometric assessment; Trans; Transgender

Abstract:
Standardised psychometric measures are used in mental health care and research settings to identify risk, assist diagnosis, and assess symptom severity. Standardised scoring of these measures involves transforming respondents' raw scores using binary sex norms. However, scoring manuals offer no guidance as to appropriate scoring methods for trans and non-binary respondents.