The Italian Validation of the Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Measure

Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people experience high levels of minority stress and associated risk for negative mental health outcomes. Notwithstanding, TGNC people may resist the negative effects of minority stress on health through the resilience factors. As no comprehensive measures of gender minority stress and resilience exist in Italy, this study evaluated the psychometric characteristics of an Italian language version of the Gender and Minority Stress and Resilience Measure (GMSR) in an Italian sample of 203 TGNC individuals ranged from 18 to 66 years of age (M = 30.70, SD = 10.79). The GMSR, developed in the United States in 2015, assesses distal stressors (discrimination, rejection, victimization, and nonaffirmation), proximal stressors (internalized transphobia, negative expectations, and nondisclosure), and resilience factors (pride and community connectedness). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the original 9-factor model had adequate fit to the data obtained from the Italian sample. Criterion validity was partially confirmed, as the stress scales positively correlated with anxiety and depression, and pride negatively correlated with depression, but not anxiety. On the contrary, community connectedness did not correlate with any of the mental health measures. Instead, both convergent and discriminant validity were confirmed as both distal and proximal stressors positively correlated with perceived stress, community connectedness was positively associated with perceived support from friends, and all correlations were below .60. This study offers evidence of the reliability and validity of the GMSR in the Italian context, providing Italian clinicians and researchers with a comprehensive tool to assess gender minority stress in TGNC individuals.