A parent-report Gender Identity Questionnaire for Children: A cross-national, cross-clinic comparative analysis.
A one-factor, 14-item parent-report Gender Identity Questionnaire for Children (GIQC) was developed in a sample of 325 clinic-referred children with gender identity problems and 504 controls from Toronto, Canada (Johnson et al., 2004). In this study, we report a cross-national, cross-clinic comparative analysis of the GIQC on gender-referred children (N = 338) from Toronto and gender-referred children (N = 175) from Utrecht, The Netherlands. Across clinics, the results showed both similarities and differences. Gender-referred boys from Utrecht had a significantly higher total score (indicating more cross-gender behavior) than did gender-referred boys from Toronto, but there was no significant difference for girls. In the Toronto sample, the gender-referred girls had a significantly higher total score than the gender-referred boys, but there was no significant sex difference in the Utrecht sample. Across both clinics, gender-referred children who met the complete DSM criteria for gender identity disorder (GID) had a significantly higher cross-gender score than the gender-referred children who were subthreshold for GID (Cohen's d = 1.11). The results of this study provide the first empirical evidence of relative similarity in cross-gender behavior in a sample of gender-referred children from western Europe when compared to North American children. The results also provide some support for cross-clinic consistency in clinician-based diagnosis of GID.
Cohen-Kettenis
Peggy T
PT
Gender Clinic for Children, Adolescents and Adults, Free University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Wallien
Madeleine
M
Johnson
Laurel L
LL
Owen-Anderson
Allison F H
AF
Bradley
Susan J
SJ
Zucker
Kenneth J
KJ
D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D009426:Netherlands; D015588:Observer Variation; D010290:Parents; D011584:Psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires