Work

Psychometric validity of the Transgender Congruence Scale in a sample of transgender and gender diverse adolescents and adults in the Chinese setting

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Transgender congruence reflects the degree to which TGD individuals feel genuine, authentic and comfortable within their external appearance/presence and accept their genuine identity rather than the socially prescribed identity. Although the Transgender Congruence Scale (TCS) has been validated in several cultural contexts, evidence regarding its psychometric properties among Chinese adolescents and adults in the TGD population remains limited. The TCS was translated into Chinese using a forward and back translation procedure. A sample of 287 TGD participants was recruited as an independent sample for item analysis and exploratory factor analysis. Another sample consisting of 685 TGD participants was used for confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance testing, and assessments of reliability and validity. Four weeks later, 55 participants among them completed the TCS scale again to assess test-retest reliability. ①The Chinese version of the TCS retained the same structure as the original version. It included 11 items, which belonged to the Appearance Congruence and Gender Identity Acceptance subscale with a cumulative variance interpretation rate of 55.97%. ②The confirmatory factor analysis indicated a two-factor model (χ²(40) = 212.043, p < 0.001, RMSEA = 0.079, TLI = 0.918, CFI = 0.940, SRMR = 0.047, AIC = 21494.643, BIC = 21662.231). ③The Cronbach’s α for each subscale and the total scale were 0.87, 0.79, and 0.89. The test-retest reliability across 4 weeks for the total scale was 0.71. ④Appearance congruence was negatively associated with negative physical self, and gender identity acceptance was negatively associated with internalized transphobia. TCS-11 scores were positively associated with life satisfaction and negatively associated with nondisclosure. The TCS-11 also demonstrated configural, metric, scalar, and strict measurement invariance across adolescent and adult groups. TGD adults reported higher total transgender congruence and appearance congruence than adolescents, whereas no age-group difference was observed in gender identity acceptance. The Chinese version of the TCS-11 demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties and cross-age measurement invariance among TGD adolescents and adults in China. It provides a concise measure of appearance congruence and gender identity acceptance, facilitating cross-age comparisons within the Chinese context and supporting future research on transgender congruence. Not applicable

Source: BMC Psychology

DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05808-4

Authors: Di Wu, Ling Wang, Bizhong Chen, Genglin Guo, Qilin Zhang

Institutions: Guangdong Ocean University, South China Normal University, Yunnan Normal University, Zhejiang Normal University, Central China Normal University

Language: English

Topic: LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,990